Nine birdies give Matthew Nixon Cadiz Open lead

Cadiz: England`s Matthew Nixon fired nine birdies to clinch a one-shot lead on eight under par after three rounds of the Cadiz Open on Saturday. Nixon, who before this tournament had made just one European Tour cut this year in finishing joint 27th at February`s Africa Open, carded a seven under score of 65. His only black marks were dropped shots at the par four second and the par five 11th. "I played really nicely. I don`t remember much about it apart from the fact that I kept knocking them close and knocking the putts in," he said. If I could do that again tomorrow it would come in handy." Nixon, still without a European Tour win after four seasons, leads by one shot from Italy`s Marco Crespi, who went round in six under. Crespi is one stroke clear of Chile`s Felipe Aguilar, who led midway through a round delayed to allow much of the field to complete their second round in the morning. Portugal`s Ricardo Santos was one behind Aguilar, in turn one ahead of a quartet on four under.