Rose puts foot on it and pays the penalty

JUSTIN ROSE put his foot in it – or rather on it – when the French Open began at Le Golf National near Paris yesterday.

The 22-year-old from Hampshire, looking to build on his fifth place at the US Open two weeks, trod on his ball and incurred a one-stroke penalty.

It could prove costly come the end of the £1.7million tournament on Sunday. Rose lies two strokes off the lead following his four-under-par 68, the same score as Ireland's Gary Murphy.

The incident came after he drove into the rough on the 470-yard 17th and the England World Cup player, paired with close friend Ian Poulter, said: "We were talking and the next thing I knew I stood on my ball. It was sitting right down and I thought it was a bit further up. That's the first time I've done it."

Having started on the inward half Rose still had 10 more holes to play and he birdied four of them to boost his hopes of the £290,791 first prize £85,000 more than Malcolm Mackenzie won last year.

Of the three leaders England's Philip Golding, Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts and French amateur Eric Chaudouet Golding is the best known, but mostly for the fact that he has made a record 16 trips to the European Tour qualifying school.

The 40-year-old from Luton is 79th on this season's Order of Merit and on course, therefore, to avoid a 17th visit, but he would have been much higher but for a four-stroke penalty he received in Qatar in March.

He played with 15 clubs for two holes, wrongly thinking that he was okay to put a club he had considering using upside down in his bag for the completion of his storm-delayed third round. Instead of finishing fifth he was 14th.

Chaudouet, a 25-year-old from near Lyon, becomes only the fifth amateur to lead a full tour event at the end of a day's play.

The fourth was only two months ago Malaga teenager Pablo Martin. And he was out in front after three rounds before falling back to 22nd.

A member of the French team which finished second at the world championships in Malaysia last year, Chaudouet is making his debut in his national Open and, like Golding, did not drop a stroke all day.

Colsaerts had a chance to equal the tour record of 27 for nine holes when he birdied seven of the first eight holes. But, needing an eagle at the 563-yard ninth, the 20-year-old three-putted for a bogey six.

He also dropped shots at the 10th and 12th, but two birdies in the last four made it a three-way tie.