Former Delivery Driver Joe Dean Holes a 31-Footer to Share the Spanish Open Lead

Joe Dean turned a runaway Saturday into a salvage job in the space of three holes, and still walked off the 18th green sharing the Spanish Open lead. The former delivery driver holed a 31-foot birdie putt on the last hole at Real Club de Campo Villa de Madrid for a third-round 65 that left him at 13 under, tied with Grant Forrest, after a double bogey and a bogey had briefly handed Forrest the lead outright, the DP World Tour reports.

How did Dean lose a three-shot lead in two holes?

By making his first mistakes of the day at the worst possible time. Dean made five birdies on the front nine and three more at the 12th, 14th and 15th to reach 16 under and lead by three, Sky Sports reports. He then double-bogeyed the par-four 16th, his first blemish of the round, and dropped another shot at the 17th, Golf Channel reports. In two holes the tournament had a new leader, and Dean’s round had gone from a statement to a rescue mission.

His own explanation was plain. Nothing is guaranteed in this game, Dean said, and it only takes a slight lapse in concentration or one bad shot at a bad time before a player is chasing the round instead of controlling it, Golf Channel reports.

How did he win the lead back on the 18th?

With the longest putt of his day. Dean rolled in a birdie from 31 feet on the final hole to get back to 13 under, the DP World Tour reports, then waited while Forrest, the 36-hole leader, played the last. Forrest missed his own birdie attempt and settled for par and a share of the lead after a bogey-free back nine, Golf Channel reports. Dean said the putt gave him a little bit of hope after the previous two holes, Sky Sports reports.

The recovery matters beyond one shot. A player who collapses late on Saturday usually spends Sunday defending the memory of it. Dean instead starts the final round level, in the final group, with the last shot of his Saturday a 31-footer that dropped.

Who is Joe Dean, and why does a win on Sunday change his career?

He is the least decorated player in the final group by a distance, and that is the story. Dean, 32 and from Sheffield, worked as a delivery driver before he established himself on the DP World Tour, Sky Sports reports. His first win on the circuit came just six weeks ago at the British Masters, Golf Channel reports. Before that breakthrough he was a journeyman on a tour where most co-leaders have been winning, or nearly winning, for years.

His opponent on Sunday shows the contrast. Forrest is chasing a third DP World Tour title and a wire-to-wire win, having shared the first-round lead, led alone on Friday and matched Dean on Saturday with birdies at the 11th, 14th and 16th, the DP World Tour reports. Forrest said the Madrid course is one of his favourite tournaments and has been good to him in the past. This week’s event has already produced one career-shaping sideshow, Daniel Hillier’s toed hole-in-one that won him a BMW, and one feat of endurance from Eugenio Chacarra, who shared the first-round lead on a fractured toe.

Who else can still win the Spanish Open?

Three players start Sunday one shot back, and the home challenge is not finished. Joel Girrbach, Victor Perez and Jacob Skov Olesen are at 12 under, with Perez and Olesen matching Dean’s 65 on Saturday, Sky Sports reports. Angel Ayora, the leading Spaniard, is three back at 10 under after a 66, and Chacarra is tied for eighth at 8 under after a 70 in which he admitted he struggles to trust his body because his mind expects his fractured toe to hurt, Golf Channel reports. Chacarra needs a win to overtake Patrick Reed at the top of the Race to Dubai, a chase this week has made harder with every round walked on the injury.

The depth matters for Dean as much as the lead does. Earlier in this same event, Marco Penge topped a drive 158 yards and recovered to stay relevant, a reminder that Madrid has punished and forgiven players all week. Shane Lowry, the biggest name in the field, is eight shots back in a tie for 17th after his best round of the week, a 67, Sky Sports reports.

What happens in Sunday’s final round?

Dean and Forrest play together in the final group, level at 13 under, with three proven chasers one shot behind them. Forrest has the steadier week and the course history, and he has led or shared the lead after every round, the DP World Tour reports. Dean has the momentum of the last putt and the simpler equation: six weeks after his first win, a second one would end any argument that the British Masters was a one-off. Madrid has also been the stage for Sergio Garcia’s public push to return to the Ryder Cup team, and the home crowd will spend Sunday split between Ayora’s charge, Chacarra’s toe and the Englishman who used to deliver parcels trying to deliver again.