Woosie still in contention

An outward 34 was not enough to keep Ian Woosnam in a share for the lead when the French Open went into its third round at Le Golf National near Paris today.

In a battle of the fortysomethings, Jean-Francois Remesy, trying to become the first home winner since Jean Garaialde in 1969, went to the turn in 33 and so reached nine under par.

With the wind having dropped and the course playing much easier, Remesy, 40 earlier this month, had four birdies in his first six holes.

Woosnam, now 46, matched three of them and was back level when Remesy bogeyed the 443-yard seventh after driving close to the out of bounds fence.

However, the Welshman missed the green at the short eighth and failed to make his six-foot par putt.

Australian Richard Green, who beat Woosnam and Greg Norman in a play-off for the 1997 Dubai Desert Classic, was third on seven under and Ryder Cup hopeful Ian Poulter two further back along with South African Darren Fichardt.

Poulter, currently in the 10th and last automatic spot in the cup race, reached six under with five birdies in the first 11, but missed the fairway and green on the tough 12th for a bogey five.

Earlier, one of the lowest rounds of his career slipped from Paul Casey’s grip when he bogeyed the last two holes.

Casey, who had thought about pulling out of the event after playing his first 15 holes on Thursday in eight over par, survived the halfway cut by two strokes and then covered the first 16 today in a dazzling eight under.

Only 95th after his opening 77 and joint 48th at halfway, he was up to joint fourth at that point, but had to play out backwards from the thick rough left of the 17th fairway and then three-putted the last.

After signing for a 65 that was still a new course record and put him in line for a Rolex watch, Casey said: “I kept it out of the rough until the 17th and that was the key. I think it’s unfair and I’d like to see it cut back.

“One, it’s hard to find it and that’s hurting the pace of play. Two, it’s taking the skill out of it.

“On Thursday I was thinking about what time I could drive back to England. You always think about it, but never actually do it.”

Paul McGinley had five birdies in a row after the turn, but the man who holed the winning putt at the last Ryder Cup had to settle for a 68 and a two over aggregate.

Colin Montgomerie, meanwhile, was down on nine over after a 73 which included a triple bogey seven on the seventh and Justin Rose 10 over following a 77.

“A bit of a mess really” was how Montgomerie described his playing of the seventh. He lost a ball in a hazard.

On Monday he is among more than 50 tournament winners in a field of 120 at Sunningdale battling for 15 places in next month’s Open at his home course Royal Troon.

“I need to putt better than I am now to qualify,” he said. The seven-time European number one came into this week ranked 169th in putts per round on the circuit.

His coach Dennis Pugh came out to France to provide assistance but Montgomerie, not surprised to be struggling at the moment after the break-up of his marriage, commented: “Technical is one thing, mentally it’s another.”

Having teed off at 7.23am he vowed to spend the afternoon practising. “I suppose I’ve got to and I’ve got more time to do that now and over the years to come it might be beneficial.”