Double major winner Jose Maria Olazabal made a fine start to the third day of the Madrid Masters, completing his first nine holes in two under par. The Spaniard  just made the cut on level par after a one-over 72 in the second round, but shot back-to-back birdies on the seventh and eighth holes this morning to lie two under.

His playing partner, compatriot Eduardo De La Riva, made an even better start, posting birdies at two, four, five and seven to move to four under, five shots off a lead held by South African Charl Schwartzel and Australian Marcus Fraser.

Miguel Angel Jimenez, who needs to win here to move to third in the European
Tour Order of Merit, slipped back to one under early in his round with a bogey at the second hole.

In contrast, French Open winner Pablo Larrazabal began his round in fine fashion, an eagle at the par-five fourth moving him to four under for the tournament. Olazabal undid his progress on the front nine when he bogeyed 11 and 12 to return to level par.

De La Riva fell back to two under after 12 holes with two consecutive bogeys on the back nine, and Larrazabal also dropped a shot immediately after his eagle to slip to three under after six.

Englishman Paul Broadhurst birdied the second and fourth to reach five under after four holes, but Wales' Bradley Dredge started badly with a double bogey at the first. He made amends with a birdie at the next hole, but remained seven shots off the lead on two under.