Defending champion Retief Goosen regained control of the Trophée Lancôme at Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche, a flawless third round 65 moving the South African to 13 under par 200 and giving him a one shot lead going into the final 18 holes.
The 32 year old, who held the first round lead with a 64 before slipping back to sixth after his second round 71, will become the first player since Australian David Graham in 1981-82 to win back-to-back Trophée Lancôme titles should he repeat his triumph of 12 months ago. But the US Open champion has a formidable chasing pack hard on his heels.
Leading the way are Sweden’s Niclas Fasth and Sergio Garcia of Spain, both on 12 under par 201, with England’s Gary Emerson one shot further adrift on 202, while four players bunched together on ten under par 203, Andrew Coltart, Jean Hugo, Phillip Price and Anthony Wall.
But the day belonged to Goosen who showed his class once again. He made his intentions clear with birdies at the opening two holes before birdieing the fifth and eighth as well to be out in 32. Although not as spectacular, the back nine featured gains at the 11th and 13th to leave the South African more than pleased with his day’s work.
“Yesterday was a bit of a struggle but today was much better,” he said. “I managed to keep the ball well on the golf course and holed a few good putts so I can’t ask for much more than that.
“To be honest, I never really played well here until last year and thankfully I am managing to keep it going. I do seem to play well in France though – maybe it is the red wine!”
Fasth, who should have been been lining up alongside Garcia for Europe in the Ryder Cup at The De Vere Belfry next weekend, aligned himself instead with the Spaniard in second spot, thanks to his second consecutive 66.
An eagle three at the 522 yard sixth hole was quickly negated by a double bogey five at the short seventh, but the 29 year old Swede exhibited the maturity and confidence gained by playing his way into Sam Torrance’s team by not letting the mistake ruffle his feathers.
Indeed, the opposite seemed to be the case as the 2000 Madeira Island Open champion went on to birdie the eighth, tenth, 11th and 15th holes to re-establish himself as a real threat to Goosen’s title defence.
The same, of course, can be said about Garcia, who followed rounds of 68-65 with another 68, although it could have been even better for the 21 year old Spaniard.
After a delicate pitch-in for birdie from ten feet off the left edge of the 17th green had moved him alongside Goosen, Garcia proceeded to dump his six iron tee shot at the 209 yard 18th into the water before, to his credit, pitching and putting for a bogey four.
There were no such dramas for fourth placed Gary Emerson who, like Goosen, produced a flawless third round in the Parisien sunshine, his 66 constructed thanks to birdies at the first, fourth, fifth, eighth and tenth holes.
While the leading four contenders prospered around the Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche layout, it proved a disappointing day for Sheffield’s Mark Roe, who had led at the start of the day, but who slipped back into a share of 20th place after his third round 75.
