Anders Hansen’s pressure on the overnight front runners earned him the lead shortly after the end of a mid-afternoon suspension at the Alstom Open de France.
Hansen, who carded a three below par 68 today to be on four under for the tournament, shared the lead with Thongchai Jaidee when play was halted at 3:40pm local time due to the threat of lightning. It resumed at 5pm and Jaidee made a six on the par four seventh to slip back.
Francesco Molinari, who shot three under today, David Lynn, who went round in one over, and George Coetzee, whose round was ongoing, were a stroke behind Hansen.
Hansen’s round initially put him two shots behind overnight leader Christian Nilsson of Sweden and one back from Gary Boyd, Matteo Manassero and Jaidee, who were all still to tee off when the Dane completed his 18 holes.
They began their second round in trickier conditions than Hansen, whose clubhouse advantage looked increasingly important when Nilsson dropped three shots and both Boyd and Manassero fared worse at Le Golf National near Paris.
Jaidee birdied the first but bogeyed the second and fourth to share the lead with Hansen six holes into the Thai’s round when play was suspended.
Hansen, beginning on the tenth, parred his first five holes before making birdies at 15, 16 and 18 with a sole blemish on his first nine a bogey at 17.
He then made birdie threes at four and six, the latter courtesy of a superb approach from just off the left side of the fairway. However, a bogey four on his penultimate hole saw him drop back.
Hansen said: “I'm very proud of myself to keep doing what I've done, even though there's a few shots that didn't come as I wanted them to, but all in all, I'm still in the learning process of trying to figure this thing out.
“To go out on a course like this with a few new things in the golf swing is not exactly easy. When you get out there, you have to trust what you're doing.
“The wind was picking up today. It's difficult. It's difficult out there. I don't think it's going to get a lot easier this afternoon, so all in all, very, very pleased with where I am.
He added: “It's very, very tight out there. I think they cut in the fairways this year just to make it even tougher for us. If you ask me, they need to keep it a little softer. If it's going to play much firmer than this, it's going to be very, very difficult.”
