LEE AND DOAK IN THE CHALLENGE TOUR HUNT IN FRANCE

                            CHRIS DOAK IN ACTION ... Image by Getty Images (c)

EUROPEAN CHALLENGE TOUR REPORT

By SARAH GWYNN

Scottish duo Craig Lee and Chris Doak are in contention for the Allianz Open de Lyon title after carding respective rounds of 69 and 65 in the third round on a cold, wet day at Golf du Gouverneur.
The pair are tied second, four shots off the lead held by Frenchman Julien Quesne, who had a four under par 67.
Lee, whose 64 in the opening round was the lowest of his Challenge Tour career, had an eagle, two birdies and a two bogeys to remain in the mix, but he was left to rue a dropped shot at the last hole.
“I feel disappointed because I got off to a great start,” said the 34 year old from Stirling. “I was three under after five, but then I came to the eighth and had a 20ft putt for eagle, missed it and missed the birdie putt as well. Then I bogeyed the ninth, so those two holes really took the wind out of my sails.
“I had a few opportunities on the back nine but couldn’t take any, then I had a silly bogey to finish. But it’s really tough out there. The rain has made the rough so hard to get out of, and because it’s so cold the ball is not flying as far.
“Julien has been playing some great golf so if he keeps it up tomorrow he’ll be hard to catch. But four shots is not many over 18 holes and anything can happen. I just need to start well again and get a bit of momentum going.”
Doak had birdies at the second, third and eighth, and then picked up further shots at the tenth, 13th and 16th, but bogeys at the 12th and 18th prevented him climbing further up the leaderboard.

“I’m playing nicely,” he said. “It was disappointing to finish with a bogey at the last – I chipped onto the green but missed the putt. That was the only bogey of the day, so it’s going well and I’m putting nicely.

“I haven’t played with Craig all year so it will be fun if we are in the same group for the last round.”

THIRD-ROUND TOTALS
Par 213 (3x71)

200 J Quesne  (Fra) 66 67 67

204 C Lee (Sco) 64 71 69, C Doak (Sco) 70 68 66, P Relecom  (Bel) 66 70 68

205 F Colombo (Ita) 67 67 71, V Riu  (Fra) 68 70 67, A Tadini (Ita) 68 68 69

206 K Eriksson (Swe) 69 66 71

207 D Vancsik (Arg) 68 69 70, A Perrino  (Ita) 68 68 71, A Levy (Fra) 67 72 68, R Hjelm (Den) 69 67 71, M Lorenzo-Vera  (Fra) 68 69 70, A Bernadet  (Fra) 70 67 70, R Eyraud (Fra) 70 71 66, G Stal (am) (Fra) 69 65 73

208 J Guerrier  (Fra) 68 70 70, S Walker (Eng) 69 71 68, F Delamontagne  (Fra) 68 68 72, M Erlandsson (Swe) 67 71 70

209 M Southgate  (Eng) 67 72 70, D Brooks (Eng) 65 73 71, G Cambis  (Fra) 67 68 74, A Ahokas (Fin) 66 70 73, K Borsheim  (Nor) 69 69 71, R Santos  (Por) 70 69 70, A Hartø  (Den) 67 70 72, M Delpodio  (Ita) 70 70 69, P Edberg (Swe) 66 74 69, M Lundberg (Swe) 69 69 71

210 J Heath  (Eng) 72 70 68, B Grace  (RSA) 65 73 72, J Billot (Fra) 69 73 68, J Remesy (Fra) 71 68 71, E Kofstad (Nor) 70 68 72, M Bothma (RSA) 72 68 70, N Joakimides (Fra) 68 72 70, N Meitinger  (Ger) 72 65 73, B Evans  (Eng) 70 71 69

211 L Kennedy  (Eng) 69 68 74, J McLeary  (Sco) 69 71 71, B Ritthammer (Ger) 69 73 69, G Houston (Wal) 70 72 69, A Domingo (Esp) 71 68 72, J Garcia  (Esp) 68 74 69, M Cryer (Eng) 72 66 73, B Chapellan (Fra) 66 70 75

212 P Del Grosso  (Arg) 70 67 75, A Forsyth (Sco) 69 69 74, A Johnston (Eng) 70 72 70, S Little (Eng) 71 71 70, T Whitehouse  (Eng) 72 69 71, C Lloyd (Eng) 71 71 70, E Espana (am) (Fra) 71 68 73

213 P Dwyer (Eng) 69 70 74, R Russell (Sco) 70 70 73, W Besseling  (Ned) 68 71 74, S Bebb (Wal) 69 73 71,

214 D Nouailhac (Fra) 70 72 72, F Praegant (Aut) 66 73 75, R Kind (Ned) 68 71 75, A Bossert (Sui) 73 67 74, P Archer (Eng) 68 71 75, S Tiley (Eng) 68 74 72, C Macaulay  (Sco) 67 74 73, L Jensen (Den) 73 68 73,

215 K Le Sager  (Fra) 72 70 73, C Ford (Eng) 70 71 74,

216 T Fournier  (Fra) 73 68 75, S Hutsby  (Eng) 69 73 74, M Baldwin (Eng) 72 70 74,

220 P Gustafsson (Swe) 70 72 78,