Jon Rahm and Danny Willett pull three shots clear in BMW PGA Championship

Jon Rahm has derived such joy from prime events on the European Tour that it seems astonishing to think there was once doubt over how prominent the Spaniard could be when back in his home continent. After forging a college career in the United States – and winning his first professional tournament there, in 2017 – Rahm has proved the epitome of golfing versatility. The 24-year-old is now 18 holes from adding the BMW PGA Championship to a European Tour CV which already includes two Irish Opens, a Spanish Open and the season-ending DP World Tour Championship. It’s as if he never went away.

Rahm holds a share of the 54-hole Wentworth lead with Danny Willett after the pair traded 68s. The reinvigorated former Masters champion made birdie on the last on Saturday to deny Rahm an overnight advantage.

Related: Rory McIlroy believes golf can learn from tennis to eradicate slow play

That duo’s 15-under par aggregate is three better than Shubhankar Sharma, Justin Rose and South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout. Rafa Cabrera Bello and Richie Ramsay lurk with intent at minus 10, one clear of Patrick Reed. This is, to the tournament’s credit, a terrific leaderboard. “We’re going to have to play really, really good golf to win this event,” said Rahm, quite appropriately.

Rory McIlroy has previous for rampaging towards glory here. The 30-year-old was seven from the lead when entering the final day of the BMW PGA Championship in 2014. A closing round of 66 was sufficient to take the trophy five years ago; rough weather forecast for Sunday makes it tricky to predict what kind of number will prevail. McIlroy will begin day four at minus six, with the depth of talent between he and the leaders meaning this is probably a bridge too far.

McIlroy was three under within four holes of his third round and six under after 12. A dropped shot at the 16th stunted the McIlroy charge slightly but a birdie at the penultimate hole repaired that damage. McIlroy’s birdie attempt at the last slid by but this still represented an excellent day’s work after opening rounds of 76 and 69.

“I wish I had holed that putt at the last for 64,” McIlroy said. “I wanted to go out today and shoot a good score, to try to get myself back into the tournament somewhat. I think if I went out tomorrow and shot a similar score, I don’t think I’d be too far away from the winning number.

Related: Nicky Henderson commits Altior to taking on fellow-titan Cyrname

“It’s amazing, I only took two weeks off but it felt like I had not played golf in years on Thursday. It was strange. But it has been nice to sort of figure it out a little bit, play a bit better yesterday. Obviously I played much better today.

“It just took me a little bit to get going. It’s hard to say that you’re rusty after having two weeks off when you’ve played so much this year, but that’s seriously how it felt, and each day I just got a little bit better.”

Moment of the day belonged to Ross Fisher, who saw his four-iron approach to the 18th run gloriously into the hole for an albatross two. Fisher had been 225 yards from the pin. That Fisher, a former Wentworth member, had his wife and children in the gallery added to the endearing scene.

“That was the best shot I’ve ever hit, by a long way,” Fisher said. “There will be a few celebrations tonight, but I’ll have to come back and try and do it again tomorrow.” Such is life, alas.