Golf Central

What is it about those Frenchies and golf, eh? They're pretty good at it if truth be told, especially Jean-Francois Lucquin, who shares the first round lead at the Mercedez-Benz Championship England's Richard Finch .

Lucquin - who pipped our good mate Rory McIlroy last week - carded an opening round of 66 to put him on six-under with Finch. Other names in the fold include Robert Karlsson (3), Ross Fisher (4) and Bernhard 'we were going to put a few quid on him' Langer (T7).

The best of our picks is Jeev Milkha Singh, who's tied for 32nd on even par. Just behind Jeev is Stuart Appleby (T46) and Daniel Chopra, well, he had a corker. The bleach-haired Swede opened with a 78...

Got to feel gutted for Rory McIlroy, haven't you? Our new best buddy had a four-footer on the last to finish with a 70 and win the European Masters, but a miss there forced a playoff with France's Jean-Francois Lucquin, who posted a gutsy 67 in the final round.

The par-four 18th was used as a playoff hole and, despite a stalemate the first time around, a bogey from McIlroy all but sealed the deal for the Jean. The Frenchman had two putts for his maiden victory, but his birdie effort was only ever going one place. Lucquin battled valiantly throughout the day and his never-say-die attitude was aptly rewarded.

It was just one of those days for Rory where nothing seemed to drop, but his time will come, and we can't wait until it does. Elsewhere, Frenchie Christian Cevear, local favourite Julien Clement, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Gary Orr all finished tied for third.

Things are looking pretty dandy for Rory McIlroy at the Omega European Masters after the third round. The 19-year-old posted a  66 on Saturday to take a four stroke lead into the final round... Not even Billy Android could throw away such a big lead.

McIlroy's biggest threats now, all on nine-under, are Robert Dinwiddie, some French blokes called Christian Cevaër and Jean-François Lucquin as well as Argentina's Juan Abbate. Rory laughs in the face of opposition like that...

The only one of our tips left with any sort of a shout is Ross McGowan, who's five behind Rory in tied 13th. Cambo finds himself five-under (T23) and Bradley Dredge (T44) has been a bit of a letdown, but those Welshies always are...

Billy Android's new best mate Rory McIlroy has a share of the lead at the European Masters at Crans-sur-Sierre, which is in some small country called Switzerland apparently. The young whippersnapper shot an even-par 71 on the second day to put him eight-under with defending champion Brett Rumford.

Not that we really care about anyone else in the field, but Juan Abate jumped into tied third with Alejandro Canizares and Jean-Francois Lucquin after carding a 67. Other names McIlroy should probably keep an eye on inculde Peter Lawrie, Simon Dyson (both T6) and perhaps Miguel Angel Jimenez (T9).

Just in case Rors does make a hash of it all, it's good to know that all our picks - Bradley Dredge (T21), Michael Campbell and Ross McGowan (both T35) - will be playing on the weekend.

We put it all down to Billy Android to be honest. Just a few days after he met with our equipment editor, Rory McIlroy goes and shoots an opening round of 63 (eight-under) at the European Masters in Switzerland. 'About time,' said our new best buddy. 'Golf's such a fickle game. I could go and play better than that and shoot level par.'

This was the youngster's best round on the European Tour and was enough to give him a three-stroke lead over Argentina's Julio Zapata and the Welsh duo of Garry Houston and Kyron Sullivan. Da iawn bechgyn...

A few players in a massive group tied for fifth include the excellently-named Emanuele Canonica, Peter Lawrie, IGWT pick Ross McGowan and Gary Orr. Our other tips - Michael Campbell and Bradley Dredge - are both tied for 21st on two-under. Not a bad day at the office for the Bet Detective...