Rasmus Højgaard remains in the driving seat for a wire-to-wire victory at the Cazoo Open de France after the 21-year-old Dane battled bravely back from a quintuple-bogey eight at the par three second hole at Le Golf National.
The three-time DP World Tour winner carried a six-stroke lead into the weekend in France, but things with horribly awry early on as he found the water three times on the tricky second hole at the 2018 Ryder Cup venue.
He sank a 14-foot putt for an eight at the par three and when he followed that up with a bogey at the par five third, Højgaard looked down and out, six over par through the opening three holes. But he delighted the fans with a battling comeback, carding five birdies in the final 13 holes to limit the damage to a three over 74.
That kept him top of the pile on 12 under par, one clear of South Africa's George Coetzee, who signed for a four under 68 as he targets a sixth DP World Tour victory.
Thomas Pieters, a winner already this season at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, moved himself within touching distance of a seventh career title with a five under 66, and he was joined on ten under by Frenchman Paul Barjon whose third round 70 kept kept his dreams alive of a debut victory in his home open.
