\n<\/p>\n
While McIlroy found birdies hard to come by at times, Hidalgo had no such trouble as the 27-year-old reeled off seven in a row from the second. <\/p>\n
After a bogey at the ninth, Hidalgo picked up four more shots in the first six holes of his back nine. <\/p>\n
His momentum stalled with a double-bogey seven on the 16th after hitting his second into the water, but after steadying himself with a par on 17, he finished with a birdie four. <\/p>\n
“I really feel for a few moments I was playing the PlayStation, to be honest,” said Hidalgo, who beat two-time major winner Jon Rahm in a play-off to win his national title last year.<\/p>\n
“Every single shot was directly to the pin. Even the one I missed, it was directly to the pin, like the 13 one I go over, but it was straight to the pin.<\/p>\n
“[I’m] so happy. Not going to lie, really, really happy. Obviously now you remember the 16th, but you need to remember the few recoveries I did. The one on 17 was pretty important, and obviously the birdie on 18 to finish with good feelings obviously for tomorrow.”<\/p>\n
Saddier, however, was seemingly unaffected by Hidalgo’s stunning early move as the 33-year-old mixed seven birdies with three bogeys to hold the 54-hole lead and put himself in position to land a second DP World Tour title. <\/p>\n
European Ryder Cup players Shane Lowry (70) and Tyrrell Hatton (71) failed to make a big move, while Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin carded just one birdie in a disappointing 74.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n