Molinari off to a flyer in Paris

Italian Francesco Molinari made a spectacular start to his last nine holes to lead the Alstom French Open at Le Golf National near Paris today.

Molinari, with a chance to move from 12th to fifth in the Ryder Cup race, holed a 138-yard nine-iron for an eagle on the 10th and then made a 20-footer for another two at the short 11th.

He was 11 under par, one ahead of both Dutchman Robert-Jan Derksen and Spaniard Alejandro Canizares, who had just run up a bogey six on the long ninth.

Overnight leader and defending champion Martin Kaymer – he led by one after Canizares twice went in the water on the last three holes of his third round - had surprisingly fallen three behind and was part of a group which also included Northern Irish star Rory McIlroy and English trio Mark Foster, Kenneth Ferrie and Danny Willett.