Open de France: Nicolas Colsaerts co-leads in mission to retain membership

Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts has joined overnight leader George Coetzee in a tie for the top spot after two rounds of the Open de France.

Nicolas Colsaerts is facing a race to put in some big performances in order to keep his European Tour card, and starting 67-66 at the Open de France this week will do no harm.

He joins George Coetzee at the top, with the South African backing up his Thursday 65 with a 68 on Friday morning, with the pair now sat at -9. They don’t have a lot of breathing room ahead of the field, but they’re in great position heading into the weekend at Le Golf National.

Kurt Kitayama, Richie Ramsay and Joachim Hansen make up the rest of the top five, each a further shot back from the next. The American is in great form, having finished in the top three in Italy last week, and he finds himself there again after two rounds in France.

Meanwhile, Ramsay followed up his 66 with a 69 on day two to sit at -7, with Hansen carding consecutive rounds of 68 in Paris to sit at -6.

Brandon Stone and Jaco van Zyl make it three South Africans in the top ten, and the pair are four behind their countryman at the top of the leaderboard.

They are joined by Germany’s Martin Kaymer, Irishman Gavin Moynihan and the leading Frenchman in the field, Benjamin Hebert, who shot a level-par round of 71. Moynihan was millimetres away from a brand new BMW after this on the par-3 16th.

There were plenty of men who made a good move, including Jamie Donaldson, who shot 67 to move to -4. Hudson Swafford shot the best round of the day, with his 65 moving himself up to -3, and in the process, he became the second American on the board.

Stewart Cink makes it three Americans in the top 20, with Nikas Lemke also joining him at -2, thanks to a round of 67. Two amateurs will make it through to the weekend’s action, as both Charles Larcelet and Jeong Weon Ko are currently on level par after two days.

Under par rounds from Thomas Pieters, Juenghun Wang and Trevor Immelman moved them up to +1, while Tapio Pulkkanen and Alejandro Canizares also shot in the red to move to +3, the eventual cut line.

However, it was a terrible day for the likes of Erik van Rooyen, Alexander Levy and Matthias Schwab. The trio all went under-par in their first rounds, but respectively shot 76, 77 and 78 to finish the event at +4, failing to make the Open de France cut.

Edaordo Molinari was another to do the exact same. He followed his opening 70 with a seven-over 78 on Friday, to drop to +6 and out of the tournament. Robert Karlsson became the only man to shoot a round in the 80s, as his 81 saw him end the event in 115th and last at +15.

Back at the top, and it will be Kitayama alongside the leading duo of Colsaerts and Coetzee in the final group. They will start at 11:55 local (GMT+2), and will look to move away from the rest of the field as the day goes on.

2019 Open de France Leaderboard:

T1 (-9): Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL), George Coetzee (RSA)

3 (-8): Kurt Kitayama (USA)

4 (-7): Richie Ramsay (SCO)

5 (-6): Joachim Hansen (DEN)

T6 (-5): Brandon Stone (RSA), Jaco van Zyl (RSA), Martin Kaymer (GER), Gavin Moynihan (IRL), Benjamin Hebert (FRA)

Selected Others:

T11 (-4): Jamie Donaldson (WAL), Victor Perez (FRA)

T13 (-3): Ryan Fox (NZL), Kalle Samooja (FIN)

T20 (-2): Stewart Cink (USA), Hugo Leon (CHL)

T25 (-1): Andy Sullivan (ENG), Gavin Green (MAS), Renato Paratore (ITA)

T31 (E): Romain Wattel (FRA), Charles Larcelet (A, FRA), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (ESP)

T47 (+1): Thomas Pieters (BEL), Jeunghun Wang (IND), Shubhankar Sharma (IND)

T55 (+2): Liam Johnston (SCO), Darren Fichardt (RSA), Alex Noren (SWE), Justin Walters (RSA)

T67 (+3): Tapio Pulkkanen (FIN), Lorenzo Gagli (ITA), Joost Luiten (NED)

Missed Cut:

T77 (+4): Erik van Rooyen (RSA), Alexander Levy (FRA), Matthias Schwab (AUT)

T87 (+5): Chris Wood (ENG), Aaron Rai (ENG), David Law (SCO)

T93 (+6): Edoardo Molinari (ITA), Adrian Otaegui (ESP), Oliver Wilson (ENG)

T103 (+8): Ross Fisher (ENG), Raphael Jacquelin (FRA)