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Bickerton birdies wow French Open

29/06/2006

John Bickerton is leading the French Open by two shots after carding a first round of 63 to set an impressive pace at Le Golf National.

The Englishman was just two shots shy of the course record with his eight-under-par, nailing five birdies in seven holes in the back nine.

The Droitwich-based golfer hauled in former US Open champion Michael Campbell, who currently lies second on six under.

Tucked in behind Campbell is Sweden's Joakim Backstrom, who would himself have posted a stunning score were it not for three consecutive bogeys at the 15th, 16th and 17th holes.

At one stage Backstrom was also on eight under, but his late collapse pushed him down the leaderboard.

Others in the hunt include the English quartet of Benn Barham, David Carter, Oliver Whiteley and Mark Foster on four under, with Sweden's Henrik Stenson the other player on that score.

Bickerton said he had benefited from putting practice the day before the tournament began, and, following his stunning round, is in pole position for the title.

Campbell, meanwhile, attributed his success to the new "Odyssey Two-Ball putter", which he said had helped his alignment.


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