Julien Guerrier lived up to his name as two remarkable escapes put him firmly in contention at the 2025 FedEx Open de France.
The home favourite's surname translates into English as 'warrior' and he showed the fighting spirit necessary after finding sand by both the ninth and the 18th greens.
The 40-year-old holed both shots, for a birdie on the ninth and a closing par having mishit his first attempt from the rough.
That completed a five-under-par round of 66, two shots behind leader Marcus Armitage, with six birdies and just a solitary dropped shot at the 12th.
"Very proud," he said. "With the scoring, of course, because the last few weeks, I was playing good but I didn't score. And this time, I was playing okay and the scoring, the momentum when I hole on nine and 18 two bunker shots, it helps."
The crowd at Golf de Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche in Paris reacted excitedly on both occasions and Guerrier continued: "It's always nice in front of your crowd, you want to make them happy and give some emotion. So it's always nice to do that.
"Of course, I prefer to hit an iron on the green and two putts, but it's golf, and I take it, of course.
"I think it's all about the momentum. When I was in difficulty and I holed a putt for bogey on (12), for example, and straight after I make a birdie, so I just always keep the momentum and I mean, this sport, it's the key."
Guerrier was alongside Australia's Min Woo Lee with Ugo Coussaud just one shot further back in a strong French showing.
"I'm very, very happy," said Coussaud. "It was a nice crowd. Family was there. So it's kind of nice to make a few birdies and get a few noises from them.
"It's great, we don't get that too many times in the year, so I try to enjoy it as much as I can.
"It's a great course. I like it a lot. It's not very forgiving from the tee. You can be like I did a few times, miss in the trees and have funny shots to create. I prefer to play from the fairway, but sometimes you are just finding the trees.
"The greens are diabolical, very hard and fast and I think they are going to be firm for the rest of the week. So yeah, it's a great challenge I think."
Guerrier added: "It's really good, especially on this course. It's very charming. It's very beautiful, the golf course. The condition is great. The weather is amazing. So we can't complain."
