Philip Golding already has two career victories on French soil, and the Englishman is chasing a third after moving to the top of the leaderboard in the second round of the French Riviera Masters at Terre Blanche Hotel Spa Golf Resort.
The 51 year old won the Open des Volcans on the European Challenge Tour in central France in 1999, followed by his sole European Tour victory further north at the Open de France in Paris four years later.
He is now hoping to make it a unique hat-trick in the south of the country by claiming his second Senior Tour title in 2013.
Starting the day one shot behind overnight leaders Andrew Oldcorn and Luis Carbonetti, Golding birdied the third and sixth holes to move to six under par, one shot clear at the turn.
It had been his playing partner, Miguel Angel Martin, who set the pace during the early stages of the second round, following three birdies in his opening six holes to reach seven under par. But the Spaniard double bogeyed the par three seventh and leaked a further shot on the ninth to fall two behind Golding at the tournament’s halfway mark.
Meanwhile, in-form Oldcorn picked up shots on the second and sixth holes, but bogeyed the fourth and seventh to sit one shot back, alongside Carbonetti, who also mixed two birdies with two bogeys on the front nine.
Paraguay’s Angel Franco, a runner up in last week’s Russian Open Golf Championship (Senior) was the big mover at the top of the leaderboard. Despite dropping a shot at the first, Franco birdied the fifth before an eagle on the sixth and a further birdie on the eighth moved him to five under par, one shot behind Golding.
