Tom Vaillant started slowly, making his first birdie at the 6th, but went on to make seven more including two back-to-back on the final holes to close with a bogey-free 8-under 64 and take the lead at the Bahrain Championship presented by Bapco Energies.
“I just tried to hit as many greens as I could and just play solid the whole day and try to putt at a great speed and if I make some putts it’s great,” said the Frenchman.
“I don’t know how it has gone that fast but I am just trying to do my job the best that I can and doing the best thing I can every day.
“It puts me in this place because I work the right way so I’m just trying to keep going and do the same thing every day.
“Today doesn’t matter. I just try to do everything great and we’ll see where it puts me at the end of the week but obviously I’m working for that and I’m ready to face everything.”
Switzerland’s Joel Girrbach lies one shot behind alongside South Africa’s Zander Lombard.
Fellow South African Ockie Strydom lies in a share of fourth place a further shot behind alongside Canada’s Aaron Cockerill, Spain’s Alejandro del Rey and Denmark’s Sebastian Friedrichsen.
