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Open de France 2019: Nicolas Colsaerts opens three-shot lead in Paris

By Matt Coles

PARIS, FRANCE - OCTOBER 19: Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium in action during the third round of the Amundi Open de France at Golf National on October 19, 2019 in Paris, France. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
PARIS, FRANCE - OCTOBER 19: Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium in action during the third round of the Amundi Open de France at Golf National on October 19, 2019 in Paris, France. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images) /
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Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts has a big lead going into the final round of the Open de France, as his battle to keep his European Tour card continues.

Nicolas Colsaerts currently sits 114th in the Order of Merit, with the top 115 retaining their cards for next season. Bringing home the Open de France victory at Le Golf National this week would keep him in that group, for sure.

Colsaerts had one of the best rounds of the day on Saturday, with a 67 seeing him pull away from George Coetzee, the South African who was also tied for the lead going into the third round.

A birdie on the last for the Belgian saw his lead extend to three to -13, as he takes his first 54-hole lead in over 400 weeks, dating back to the 2012 Volvo Golf Champions event.

His last victory also came that year, at the Volvo World Match Play Championship, and he went on to feature at the Ryder Cup at Medinah as well.

However, since then, his career has not gone to plan, having only made the cut in two major championship since, finishing in a tie for 10th at the 2013 US Open, and in a tie for 46th at the British Open in 2016.

A win for the Belgian could be the turning point in his career, and the exclamation mark on his comeback from the lull in form he has been suffering.

He leads by three from Coetzee going into the final round, with the South African making a double-bogey 6 at the 13th to drop to -10. It undid some great work to start the back nine, where he birdied the 10th, 11th and 12th, where he holed this monster putt.

https://twitter.com/EuropeanTour/status/1185549298651545600

Another ever-present in the top three of the Open de France leaderboard this week has been Kurt Kitayama. The American shot a 70 on Saturday to move to -9, where he was joined by Jamie Donaldson, whose 66 moved him up the leaderboard, as he aims for his first win in over five years.

A trio of men sit in a tie for 5th, in Richie Ramsay, Joachim Hansen and Gavin Moynihan. The three are within five of the leader, and still in contention for the title, while the leading Frenchman, Benjamin Hebert sits a further shot back, alongside Martin Kaymer and Brandon Stone.

Sam Horsfield shot the round of the day. His bogey-free six-under par round of 65 moved him up to -6, and just outside the top ten. He is joined by the second Frenchman, and the winner of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, Victor Perez.

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Lucas Herbert and Joost Luiten also carded 65s on Saturday, moving up to -4 to -3 respectively, while South African Jaco van Zyl could only card a 73, and he dropped out of the top ten and into a tie for 19th on day three.

The leading amateur with 18 to play is Frenchman Jeong Weon Ko. He sits at -1, having recovered from a first round of 73 to shoot 69 and 70 over the middle two days at Le Golf National.

Only 39 men sit in the red numbers, with a further seven on level par. Meanwhile it was a bad day for the likes of Lee Slattery, Niklas Lemke and Stewart Cink who all dropped down from the red and into the black numbers on Saturday.

Back at the top, though, and it is Colsaerts who leads the way with 18 holes to play in Paris. The Belgian is yet to make a major mistake this week, with just four bogeys across the opening three rounds, but he will need to be on his game come Sunday afternoon.

The chasing pack includes four men who have all won at least three times on the European Tour, while the Belgian will be looking to make that same mark at the end of his final round.

He admitted in his post-round interview, though, that he is not focussing on the title, he is focussing on doing what he needs to do to make sure he keeps his European Tour card.

A victory in France would undoubtedly secure his future on the European Tour, but can he achieve it? He has not been in this position for over seven years, but he has the experience of playing in a Ryder Cup, the biggest pressure cooker in golf. It would almost be poetic for Colsaerts to win the Open de France here, where Team Europe trounced the United States just a year ago.

He tees up at 11:50 local time (GMT+2) tomorrow, alongside Coetzee and Donaldson, two of those men to have at least three wins on the Tour. Can the Belgian join them, or can one of the chasing pack hunt him down?

Next. Matt Every suspension shows that the PGA TOUR needs to change with the times. dark

2019 Open de France Leaderboard:

1 (-13): Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL)

2 (-10): George Coetzee (RSA)

T3 (-9): Kurt Kitayama (USA), Jamie Donaldson (WAL)

T5 (-8): Richie Ramsay (SCO), Joachim Hansen (DEN), Gavin Moynihan (IRL)

T8 (-7): Benjamin Hebert (FRA), Martin Kaymer (GER), Brandon Stone (RSA)

Selected Others:

T15 (-4): Lucas Herbert (AUS), Andy Sullivan (ENG)

T19 (-3): Jaco van Zyl (RSA), Ryan Fox (NZL), Joost Luiten (NED)

T32 (-1): Gavin Green (MAS), Jeong Weon Ko (A, FRA), Thomas Pieters (BEL)

T40 (E): Shubhankar Sharma (IND), Romain Wattel (FRA)

T47 (+1): Stewart Cink (USA), Renato Paratore (ITA)

T54 (+2): Alex Noren (SWE), Lorenzo Gagli (ITA), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (ESP)

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