Marcel Siem took advantage of the day’s best conditions late on the second afternoon to claim a two shot lead in the Alstom Open de France at Le Golf National near Paris.
Winner of the World Cup with Bernhard Langer in 2006, Siem has had only one European Tour victory in approaching 300 starts.
But only a fortnight after going close on home soil at the BMW International Open, back to back 68s put the 31 year old in the driving seat heading into the weekend.
Starting on the tenth, Siem birdied 14 but double bogeyed 17 before picking up a shot at each of the first, third, fifth and seventh holes to end on six under par.
The latter sequence saw him overtake clubhouse leader Anders Hansen, who himself shot three under in the teeth of a brisk breeze.
The morning wind became a storm that saw a spree of dropped shots and play suspended for around 80 minutes in mid-afternoon due to the threat of lightning.
At the resumption Hansen shared the lead with Thongchai Jaidee, joint second to Christian Nilsson overnight, but Jaidee fell away despite enjoying the best conditions of the day for most of his round.
Siem said: “If you shoot a few under on the golf course, it doesn't matter what are the conditions, it's a good score. I've shot two times three under now, so I'm very happy and I hope I keep it going like that.”
However, he admitted that the suspension in play came at the right time for him.
“I had just made double bogey before that. Then on 18, would have been my first shot after the lightning. I was a bit steamy there, and actually it was good for me I reckon that we got called off the course,” he added.
“It was nearly flat calm in the end. On the last four holes, there was a little breeze off the left, half a club of wind. It was very comfortable and nice to play and I'm really happy that I made something out of it.”
Hansen fired five birdies in his 68 to be one stroke ahead of a group of five. They included Francesco Molinari and George Coetzee, who shot three under today, and David Lynn, who went round in one over. Home hope Raphaël Jacquelin and Alexander Noren were the others.
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.”
