Alstom Open De France 2015: Leaderboard Scores and Highlights from Thursday

Maximilian Kieffer holds a single-shot lead through 14 holes after the opening round of the rain-hit Alstom Open in France. The German recovered from an early setback to move to four-under heading toward the 15th, but play was suspended again for the day before he could finish.

Bernd Wiesberger, Victor Dubuisson, Jaco van Zyl, Rafael Cabrera-Bello and Andrew Dodt are all one shot back on three-under par. Graeme McDowell, who is looking to win this tournament for a third successive year, is one-over par after 17 holes.

Here’s a recap of the action and a look at the scoreboard after a fascinating Day 1 at Le Golf National.

Position	Player	Overall	Day 1 Score
1.	Maximilian Kieffer	-4	14th Hole
T2.	Bernd Wiesberger	-3	68
T2.	Victor Dubuisson	-3	68
T2.	Jaco van Zyl	-3	68
T2.	Rafael Cabrera-Bello	-3	17th Hole
T2.	Andrew Dodt	-3	17th Hole
T7.	Martin Kaymer	-2	69
T7.	Simon Khan	-2	69
T7.	Daniel Gaunt	-2	69
T7.	Gregory Bourdy	-2	69

For the full tournament leaderboard check out the European Tour’s official website.

Kieffer Shines Amid Poor Conditions

Tony Marshall/Getty Images

With the British Open just around the corner, this tournament was an excellent opportunity for some of the less illustrious players in this field to book their place at the upcoming major championship, with three spots up for grabs.

But as we can we can see courtesy of the European Tour Twitter feed, the golfers had to wait before getting out to play, as poor conditions engulfed the course:

When play did resume, the star of the show initially looked likely to be Anirban Lahiri. He began the day with a real swagger, playing magnificently from tee to green and holing a string of big putts.

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As we can see here, the Indian was on the charge as he rounded the turn:

Just as he seemed set to build a buffer at the top of the standings, he slumped to a disappointing double bogey at 15 to fall back into the chasing group. It was a lapse that seemed set to allow Gregory Bourdy a chance to take over at the top of the leaderboard, and he strode to the 18th on four-under par.

But he also fluffed his lines heading down the last to hit six at the par-four, dropping back into the field.

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One of the rounds of the day came from Dubuisson. The Frenchman, who was in a group alongside Ryder Cup team-mates Martin Kaymer and Jamie Donaldson, was the main focus of the French crowds in attendance, and he responded with a quality round of 68.

The highlight of the day for him was this outstanding approach into the last, which he then went on to rattle in for birdie:

Wiesberger, who has been making a major impression on the European Tour this year, is another man in the hunt for glory after Day 1. He shot four birdies and one bogey in his round but admitted afterward that he felt as though he could have possibly performed better, per the European Tour website:

"

I played okay. I was not driving it great early on and was scrambling round. I had a couple of four or five footers for par but the chances I had I took nicely.

I had just those two hiccups with the three-putt and not getting up and down from beside the ninth green for birdie, but in general, with the conditions being pretty windy, I was quite happy with that.

"

Tony Marshall/Getty Images

The man who benefited most from a crazy day on course was Kieffer. He also blotted his card with a double bogey at the second but recovered well throughout the day, as we can see here:

More poor conditions prevented the leader from finishing all 18 holes, but it means the German takes a valuable one-shot lead into Friday. He'll have to play 22 holes on Friday, but with conditions set to improve ahead of the weekend, we should, in the main, be treated a much more structured day’s play.

Kieffer kept his cool superbly in the latter stages of his round and reaped the benefits of some improving conditions in the afternoon. But it’s always tough when weather scuppers proceedings for the players, and we’re likely to gauge a much clearer view of which golfers are in the best form on what’ll hopefully be a seamless second day of play.