Philip Golding will hope for 'deja-vu' at Le National on Sunday as he aims to become the second successive 40-year-old Englishman to win the French Open and end a 20-year wait for a European title in doing so. Golding's third round four-under-par 68 took him to 12-under-par 204 for a one-stroke lead and in with a chance of emulating Malcolm Mackenzie's feat of last year when he broke a 20-year drought to win his maiden title.
Overnight leader Thomas Bjorn came back from a faltering start to share in a five-way tie for second place but the Dane denied himself the shared lead for a second day by missing a closing hole birdie putt of four feet. With Bjorn are Australian Peter O'Malley, Swedish Ryder Cup player Pierre Fulke, and two more Britons, Barry Lane and David Howell.
On a congested leaderboard, with Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin and Britain's Stephen Gallacher a further stroke back, Spain's Jose Maria Olazabal is in a group only three shots off the pace, looking for his second French Open win in three years. Only three strokes separates the top 11 players.
Leader Golding had to dig deep to top the leaderboard for a second time in the week -- he shared the first round lead -- holing several crucial putts for pars as well as birdies. He needed a marshal to find his ball on the ninth after a wayward drive but salvaged no worse than bogey after taking penalty-drop, but his most determined shot was his last, a birdie putt of eight feet to claim the lead.
The man who has visited tour qualifying school a record 16 times in his 20 years of trying to establish himself on the European Tour, on which his highest money-list finish was when he narrowly lost a card last year in 119th place, is now ready to fulfil a dream. "Malcolm showed last year it can be done, even when you've been trying for so long," said Golding. "It would be a dream come true because it's been a long battle. Everyone knows I've been to school a record 16 times and it's not really a record you want to have, although some guys don't even get that far.
Irish players fared reasonably well, with all but one finishing the day under par. Ronan Rafferty had one of his better days in recent years finishing with a 71 to leave himself on three under for the tournament while closer to the business end of affairs were Peter Lawrie and Rafferty's fellow Ulsterman, Graeme McDowell, who will be disappointed to have slipped back from being tied for ninth to being tied for thirty-sixth with a 73. Paul McGinley shot a 69, the second best score by and Irish player after Lawrie's 67, leaving himself on four under. Gary Murphy was the only Irish player not under par, a 74 left him on level par for the tournament.
Filed by Brendan Cole
