Jordan Smith takes lead heading into the weekend

Jordan Smith carded a second-round 64, including a streak of five consecutive birdies from the 2nd hole, to take a three-shot lead at 12-under at the Cazoo Open de France.

“The last few weeks have been really good, been putting lovely, so there’s a lot of confidence in there,” said the Englishman. “Been doing a lot of work with my putting coach, Matt, back home and away at tournaments.

“It’s been a lot of work, lot of drills, lot of time on the putting green but the last week has been great on the putting green so it’s given me a lot of confidence.

“I hit some awesome iron shots. The challenge was mainly the wind, a lot of the time it was a crosswind so you were trying to work out whether it was hurting a little bit or helping a little bit so I’m really happy with the way I’m playing.

“You’ve seen it in the past, those last few holes catch people out so it’s more of the same. Staying aggressive, greens are soft so you can go straight at the pins.”

Scotland’s Ewen Fergusen lies in solo second place at 9-under following a 67.

England’s Richard Mansell closed with a 70 and is part of a six-way tie for third place at 7-under.

Overnight leader Tom Kim of South Korea closed with a 73 and is tied in 12th place at 5-under.