Englishman Sam Hutsby was joined at the top of the leaderboard by local favourite Baptiste Chapellan as the final group reached the turn on the third day of the ALLIANZ Open de Lyon at Golf de Gouverneur.
Hutsby had an unspectacular but steady start to the weekend having been overnight leader thanks to an eight under par second round of 63, starting with seven pars before a birdie at the eight briefly moved him to 11 under for the week.
He followed that with a bogey at the ninth hole though, and dropped back to 10 under par alongside Baptiste Chapellan, who was a group ahead.
The 25 year old opened with a birdie at the first to put the pressure on Hutsby before joining him at the top of the leaderboard thanks to another birdie at the par five eighth hole.
Both players are searching for their first Challenge Tour wins, as is Scotsman Chris Doak, who came flying out of the blocks with three successive birdies from the first hole before a bogey at the fifth, followed by birdies at the eighth and 11th holes, moved him to within a shot of the lead on nine under par.
His fellow Scotsman Raymond Russell was three under par through 13 holes and moved to eight under for the tournament, two shots off the pace, alongside Sweden’s Steven Jeppesen.
