Weird drives can't stop Larrazabal romping clear in Germany

The Spaniard, who also won the title in 2011, fired a five-under-par 67 to finish with a 17-under tally of 199 after a third round interrupted by a lightning delay at Gut Larchenhof near Duesseldorf.

Sharing second place on 202 was a host of top players including world number two Henrik Stenson (66) of Sweden and Australian Richard Green (62) who produced the best round of the week.

Also on 14-under were Swede Robert Karlsson (68), Dane Thomas Bjorn (66), Argentine Emiliano Grillo (70), Francesco Molinari (65) of Italy and Spanish pair Carlos Del Moral (66) and Rafael Cabrera-Bello (70).

"I'm going shot by shot, hole by hole and trying to make as many birdies as I can and as few mistakes as I can," Larrazabal told reporters.

"I hit a couple of weird drives but they happened at the right times so I could keep my momentum going. There are many hours to spend before teeing off tomorrow and a lot can happen but I feel good."

Former European Ryder Cup player Paul Casey was among nine players on 203 after the Briton returned a 63.

(Writing by Tony Jimenez, editing by Gene Cherry)