• Open de France, Round Three

Morrison left to rue late blunders

James Morrison stumbled over the closing holes © PA Photos

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Leaderboard

Englishman James Morrison will go into the final round of the Open de France with only a share of the lead after he threw away three shots over the final two holes on Saturday.

Morrison will begin Sunday level with compatriot Mark Foster, after ultimately carding a round of 72 that was good enough for a nine-under total for the tournament.

Having started the day with a two-shot lead, it looked to have all gone wrong for Morrison very quickly after he double-bogeyed the second. A birdie and bogey followed on the remainder of the outward nine, before he finally sparked into life - rattling off four birdies between the 11th and 16th to re-assert his place at the top of the leaderboard.

But the treacherous final two holes at Le Golf National proved his undoing, with a second double-bogey of the day coming on the 17th, before another bogey at the par-four last saw him slip down into a share of the lead.

Fellow Englishman Foster will thus be Morrison's biggest challenger come Sunday, the man from Worksop offsetting two bogeys with five birdies to finish with a round of 68 that belatedly handed him a share of the overnight lead.

The third British member of the top three on the leaderboard is Richie Ramsey, the Scot matching Foster's round of 68 to sit a shot further back. The former US Amateur champion might be frustrated, however, having finished with two bogeys over the closing two holes to scupper any chance he might have had of heading the field with 18 holes to go.

Martin Kaymer and home favourite Thomas Levet both thrust themselves back into contention with matching rounds of 67 to move to six-under, jumping up the field in the process. An eagle for the German on the 14th was key to his impressive round, while Levet's could have been even better had he not found water on the last and been forced to settle for a painful double bogey six.

Young Dane Thorbjorn Olesen is one shot behind that duo in sixth after a second round of 71 in as many days was good enough for a five-under par total.

If Morrison thought his day was disappointing then he should have had a word with playing partner Richard Green, who started the day a shot off the lead at nine-under but quickly saw his challenge unravel.

The seventh hole was the main culprit, as the Australian recorded an ugly quadruple-bogey eight on the way to a round of 76 that drops him to four-under for the tournament.

Bradley Dredge is also at four-under after a round of 69, while Jamie Donaldson (69), Anthony Wall (69) and Nicolas Colsaerts (71) are among a handful of players at three-under who may retain hopes of victory come Sunday.

Elsewhere, Colin Montgomerie's hopes of qualifying for the Open this weekend look increasingly slim, as had a difficult round of 74 to drop to two-over for the tournament.

Other players unlikely to have an impact on the final day include the Italian pair of Matteo Manassero (one-over) and Edoardo Molinari (three-over).

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