English golfer Westwood jumps into French Open contention

Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (France) (AFP) – Lee Westwood made the biggest move of the early starters on Saturday to move into contention during the third round of the 100th French Open at Golf National.

A four-under-par round of 67 was the best of the day so far, and catapults Westwood to within three shots of the overnight lead held by five players, including Rory McIlroy.

The Englishman was back at five over par midway through his second round on Friday, but made three quick birdies on his second nine holes just to make the cut.

Day three started well for the 43-year-old, as he picked up a trio of early shots to get to under par for the tournament.

Two bogeys just before the turn held him back slightly, but a three at the par-four 10th steadied the ship before two late birdies finished off a fine round.

“I just played solidly, I got up and down when I needed to, rolled the ball well on the greens and you’re not going to shoot 67 round here doing anything wrong,” he said.

“All in all it was a really good round, I’ll be surprised if anybody shoots lower today.

“Yesterday I had to hole from about 10 feet just to not go to six over par. So you can change things pretty quickly round here by hitting some good shots.”

It could have actually been even better, but for misses from short-range on holes 13 and 14.

With tricky conditions for the late starters to deal with, Westwood could yet find himself even closer to the lead by the close of play.

“I’m two under, five under is the lead, and who knows what it’ll be at the end of the day if the wind picks up this afternoon,” he added.

“With a bit of luck hopefully the leaders won’t get too far away.”

This fast start to the weekend continues a promising season so far for Westwood, who got his year up and running with his ninth top-three finish at a major tournament in April’s Masters.

More good performances followed, although a disastrous final round when well-placed at the US Open a fortnight ago took the gloss off his recent excellent run of form.

“I’ve been playing well, very solidly. I had a nice finish at the Masters obviously and I’ve been in contention at pretty much every tournament since,” said the world number 35.

“I’m pleased with the way things are going. I’m going to keep trying to do the same things and just see what happens tomorrow.”