Phil Golding carded a five under par 67 to consolidate his lead after the second round of the French Riviera Masters at the Terre Blanche Hotel Spa Golf Resort in Provence.

The Englishman started the day one shot in front of compatriot Gary Emerson after an opening with an eight under par 64 and will now go into the final round four shots ahead of Argentina’s Cesar Monasterio on 13 under par 131.

Monasterio carded a three under par 69 for a 36-hole aggregate of nine under par 135 while Canada’s Rick Gibson birdied the last hole for a four under par 68 to finish alone in third place on eight under par 136.

Golding started his second round with four birdies and a bogey in his first six holes and never looked likely to relinquish the lead after that.

“I got the start I wanted and then played steadily after that,” he said. “I probably didn’t hit it quite as well as yesterday. I made a couple of mistakes but I also putted well and that’s what you have got to do round here.

“If you had said at the start of the week that I could have a four shot lead headlining into the last round I would have bitten your hand off. It’s a good position to be in but it’s not going to be easy because Cesar and Rick are both very good players and have both won this season already.

“The key will be to keep to my game plan and avoid making mistakes. It’s the sort of course that gives you birdie opportunities but also punishes you if you hit a shot into the wrong place.”

Monasterio won this year’s English Senior Open and he is in excellent shape to add a second title to his name after two opening rounds of 66 and 69. The big hitting Argentinian started his second round with a birdie and went onto fire four more on the seventh, ninth, tenth and 14th to see him start the final round as Golding’s nearest challenger in the race for the €60,000 first prize.

“It was another good round. I played well and did well to keep close to Phil. I’m told the weather is not to be good tomorrow so maybe that will give me a chance to catch him.”

Gibson arrived in France having amassed four top ten finishes this season including a win in the Bad Ragaz PGA Seniors Open and he has a great chance to consolidate third place on the Order of Merit after firing his second consecutive 68 of the week.

The Canadian was six under par for his round standing on the 15th tee but then dropped three shots to par on the next two holes before ending the round on a high with a birdie on the last.

“I hit a pretty good shot into the 15th but then hit the putt about six feet past and missed the return. On 16 I was between clubs and got aggressive with an eight iron and hit it over the green. It would have been fine if it had stayed on line but it drifted a bit and dropped into the hazard.

“That was a bad mistake but I played a lot of good golf and my putter seems to have come to life again on these fast greens. I heard during my practice round that Peter Fowler won last year at 12 under so I wanted to get to eight or nine under today to give myself a chance to reach that total.

“Phil is obviously a bit ahead but the good news is that there are only two players between me and the lead. It’s a good position to be in with 18 holes to go.

Further down the leaderboard French-based Englishman John Gould equalled Golding’s best-of the-day 67 to move up to a share of fourth place alongside Simon P Brown and Gary Emerson on seven under par 137. Des Smyth and Barry Lane both recorded two under par rounds of 70 to move into a tie for seventh place on 138 while defending champion Fowler posted a one under par 71 to head into the final day on five under par 139 alongside Gary Wolstenholme and Miguel Angel Martin.

 Round Two Scores:

131 P Golding (Eng) 64 67,
135 C Monasterio (Arg) 66 69,
136 R Gibson (Can) 68 68,
137 S Brown (Eng) 68 69, G Emerson (Eng) 65 72, J Gould (Eng) 70 67,
138 D Smyth (Irl) 68 70, B Lane (Eng) 68 70,
139 P Fowler (Aus) 68 71, G Wolstenholme (Eng) 68 71, M Martin (Esp) 67 72,
140 T Thelen (USA) 70 70, G Turner (Nzl) 71 69,
141 S Tinning (Den) 72 69, J Quiros (Esp) 67 74, R Rafferty (Nir) 70 71, D Hospital (Esp) 70 71, P Linhart (Esp) 70 71, B Conser (USA) 69 72, M Mackenzie (Eng) 72 69,
142 A Oldcorn (Sco) 72 70, R Drummond (Sco) 69 73, T Price (Aus) 68 74, G Joyner (Aus) 74 68,
143 P Wesselingh (Eng) 71 72, C Mason (Eng) 71 72, J Remesy (Fra) 71 72, M Davis (Eng) 75 68, B Cameron (Eng) 71 72, J Smith (USA) 72 71, G Rusnak (USA) 75 68, J Carriles (Esp) 71 72, W Grant (Eng) 69 74,
144 M Mouland (Wal) 74 70, G Manson (Aut) 70 74, I Woosnam (Wal) 74 70, P Eales (Eng) 72 72,
145 D O’Sullivan (Irl) 73 72, M Harwood (Aus) 71 74, D Russell (Eng) 72 73, S McAllister (Sco) 70 75, L Carbonetti (Arg) 74 71,
146 J Sallat (Fra) 72 74, P Jonas (Can) 75 71, B Longmuir (Sco) 70 76, G Brand Jnr (Sco) 75 71, J Berendt (Arg) 74 72, J Bruner (USA) 76 70, J Rivero (Esp) 75 71, A Franco (Par) 68 78,
147 M Cunning (USA) 73 74, R Sabarros (Fra) 71 76, F Illouz (Fra) 72 75, A Bossert (Sui) 76 71, M Farry (Fra) 74 73, A Sherborne (Eng) 75 72, M Bianco (Ita) 72 75,
148 S Cipa (Eng) 72 76, N Job (Eng) 73 75, S Luna (Esp) 72 76, N Ratcliffe (Aus) 77 71,
151 G Brand (Eng) 73 78, P Walton (Irl) 75 76, G Ryall (Eng) 78 73,
152 K Spurgeon (Eng) 71 81,
154 A Garrido (Esp) 76 78, M McLean (Eng) 78 76, G Cali (Ita) 76 78,
157 D Durnian (Eng) 77 80,
159 G Banister (Aus) 78 81,
160 C Williams (RSA) 81 79,
** M James (Eng) WD  0,