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

Jaco van Zyl's outstanding round of 64 saw him shoot into the lead on Saturday at the 2015 Alstom Open de France.

The round was the best of the week, and leaves the South African two shots clear of Maximillian Kieffer, who scored 65.

Thongchai Jaidee's excellent round of 65 saw him climb 24 places on the leaderboard, though thanks to Van Zyl's performance the Thai still found himself six shots off the lead.

Position	Player	Overall	Day 3 Score
1	Jaco van Zyl	-10	64
2	Maximilian Kieffer	-8	65
3	Bernd Wiesberger	-7	66
T4	James Morrison	-6	68
T4	Martin Kaymer	-6	69
T4	Victor Dubuisson	-6	69
T7	Brendan Steele	-5	67
T7	Tyrrell Hatton	-5	69
T9	Thongchai Jaidee	-4	65
T9	Mark Foster	-4	68
T9	Kristoffer Broberg	-4	68
T9	Daniel Brooks	-4	70
T9	Francesco Molinari	-4	70

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

Van Zyl Shoots Round of the Week

Van Zyl began the day tied for fourth place on four-under, but enjoyed an exceptional round as he leaped to the top of the scoreboard.

The 36-year-old shot a strong round on Friday, only for it to end in disaster as he bogeyed the 17th before hitting a bridge on the difficult 18th resulted in a double bogey.

Van Zyl showed no residual nerves after Day 2's unfortunate end though, hitting three birdies in the front-nine at the third, fifth and ninth.

The South African enjoyed an even better back-nine as he hit birdies on the 10th, 11th, 16th and 18th, with nary a bogey in sight.

The European's Tour's official Twitter feed noted Van Zyl's excellent swing as a catalyst for his success:

Per EuropeanTour.com, Van Zyl was delighted with the day's golf. He said:

"

Today was really a phenomenal round. I felt really comfortable tee to green and made a couple of nice putts.

I hit it really good; I think I missed one fairway, hit 18 out of 18 greens, and made a couple of putts when I needed to.

...

I've been in this position a couple of times; hopefully tomorrow we can pull through. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow.

"

Kieffer's round was almost as good as Van Zyl's, and thanks to his total of eight-under, the German is set to be a strong contender on the final day.

The 25-year-old enjoyed a solid front-nine, in which he hit two birdies on the sixth and seventh, but it was on the back-nine where he really shone.

Four birdies on the 12th, 14th, 16th and 17th saw Kieffer hit a flawless round and propel him seven places upward on the leaderboard.

Kieffer's exquisite approach to the 17th was undoubtedly his highlight of the round:

The German was equally happy with his round. According to EuropeanTour.com, he said:

"

It feels amazing. I don't really expect it to be honest to shoot that low, but obviously the course played a little bit easier today. 

I feel like I'm good enough to win. I think I learned enough in the last two tournaments where I was in the final round with a chance to win, but we will see. 

I don't know if it's the time. I just have to hit good golf shots tomorrow and then we will see.

"

Kieffer may well have been right in his assertion that the course played easier, as the day saw an incredible number of under-par scores:

At six-under, Martin Kaymer could also potentially challenge on the final day, but the German would need to improve on the score of 69 he has achieved each day so far.

The former world No. 1 will also need to step up his driving, which as the European Tour note was somewhat off the pace compared with his rivals.

The German will be disappointed to have bogeyed the 18th, but thanks to the former U.S. Open and PGA Championship-winner's experience and class, Kaymer is capable of overcoming a four-shot deficit.

Along with home favourite Victor Dubuisson, who also sits on six-under, and Bernd Wieseberger, who finds himself third on seven-under, Kieffer and Kaymer's presence will ensure that Van Zyl's work is far from over.

It's all still to play for in the last day of the Alstom Open.