Kahn leads Monty and McGinley in France

Paris, France (Sports Network) - England's Simon Khan fired a four-under 67 on Friday to move into the lead midway through the Open de France. He stands at five-under-par 137 and is one ahead of a pair of Ryder Cuppers at Le Golf National.
Colin Montgomerie, the 2000 champion, shot a one-under 70 and is tied with Paul McGinley, who posted his second straight two-under 69 on Friday, at minus-four.
Overnight co-leader Kyron Sullivan only managed a three-over 74 in round two and shares fourth place with Thomas Bjorn (71), Zane Scotland (71) and Tom Whitehouse (69). The group finished 36 holes at three-under-par 139.
Khan began the second round on the 10th tee and wasted little time in breaking into red figures. He birdied the par-three 11th, then parred the final seven holes of his opening nine.
The Englishman started his second nine in style with a birdie at the par-four first. Khan parred his next four holes, but moved to the top of the leaderboard thanks to his play in the middle of his back nine.
At the par-four sixth, Khan drained a seven-foot birdie putt to move to four- under par for the championship. He made it two in a row at seven and that was enough to get him the lead to himself.
Khan's fortunes changed recently when he went back to an old putter he had in his attic. He's averaged a modest 30 putts a round so far this week, but last week when he tied for seventh in Munich, he averaged an impressive 26 putts a round.
"It was very frustrating and things reached a head when I played with Nick Dougherty in the U.S. Open Qualifier at Walton Heath," said Khan. "I felt I matched him tee to green, but he qualified and I didn't then he went on to finish well up at Oakmont. Nothing seemed to be happening for me.
"However I decided to start using an old putter which had been up in my attic and the two-year-old had been playing with it. At the time I would say her stroke was better than mine. It looks a bit battered but I decided to shorten it and decrease the loft."
Montgomerie played the course in normal fashion and mixed two bogeys and a birdie over his opening nine. He knocked a five-iron to tap-in range to set up a birdie at 12, then parred his next five.
At the closing hole, Montgomerie played a seven-iron 30 feet left of the hole. He rolled in the long birdie putt to get within one stroke of Khan's lead.
"There is potential disaster here around every corner," said Montgomerie. "We have a potential 'Amen Corner' on this course from the 13th onwards. This is one of our best venue, if not the best, on tour."
McGinley started at 10 and birdied the hole. He bogeyed 15, but recorded a pair of birdies at two and nine to get into second place.
"I've got myself in a nice position and if I play like I have the last couple of days I will be there or thereabouts," said McGinley, who ranks a lowly 120th on the Order of Merit.
Soren Hansen (71), Martin Kaymer (70), Thomas Levet (73), Jose-Filipe Lima (72), Damien McGrane (72), Jyoti Randhawa (72) and Graeme Storm (74) are knotted in eighth place at minus-two.
James Kamte, who shared the first-round lead with Sullivan struggled to a seven-over 78 on Friday and is part of a group tied for 28th place at one- over-par 143.
The 36-hole cut fell at four-over-par 146 and among the notable players who will miss the weekend include Miguel Angel Jimenez (147), last year's winner John Bickerton (149) and Jean van de Velde (150).