Agathe Sauzon - © Tristan Jones / LET

Thomson and Van Dam signed a 68 (-3) card to take the clubhouse lead and Young was on the back nine with a score of 32 (-3) before the game was suspended at 15:13 p.m. local time. Due to a waterlogged course and persistent rains, the first lap will resume on Friday morning.

Thomson, who is looking for his first LET title, made a brilliant start after making a little birdie on the first hole. She then made a chip on the 4th and managed the birdie in the 8th to effect start the 9 back with a score of 33 (-3). Even though she did a double bogey on the 14th, she recovered with a pair of birdies in the 15th and 16th holes to keep her score despite the difficult conditions.

Thomson credited his older brother Mark, who is his caddy, for being a great help. He had played the course two weeks ago and had helped her clear her head before the competition.

Thomson said: “I love this golf course and my brother is here. So we have a fun week. The route suits me. It's a little wet, but I'm used to it, I'm from Scotland. "

Thomson sits in 80th place on the LET Order of Merit heading into the last event of the year, just over the threshold to hold onto her card for the 2019 season, but she feels relaxed.

“I just try to enjoy the week and not think about the pressure too much. I know I'm a better player than what I've played this year, so I want to go out and prove to myself that I can do it ”, she said.

“I hit my irons really well and the greens were responsive, I played several good putts. The greens are really good and very fast, so I focused on that and I wasn't too greedy. "

“The route is quite long. Clearly you need to hit harder than you think. It is longer and the ground is quite heavy. It's really wet and getting the ball in the right position is important. It was disappointing to have a double buggy but other than that I played really well. "

Van Dam got off to a bad start with a birdie first on the 10, but made three consecutive birdies from the 13 and added another on the eighth, par-5. She is looking for her third LET title and her second in 2018 after winning the Estrella Damm Mediterranean Ladies Open in Sitges, near Barcelona, ​​two months ago.

The 23-year-old Arnhem player commented: “I started off with a boguey after hitting a bad shot in the middle of the fairway, but after that it was solid, there were a lot of chances. It's really important to be in the fairway. The greens are delicate and so soft. You have to be strong. I hit a lot of shots on the wrong side of the hole and you don't have a chance to putt anymore, so it's a tough course. I don't use my driver much on this course. It's all about position and hitting the right spot. "

Meanwhile, Young started the round with birdies on the 11th and 13th holes, before missing a shot on the 14th, then made birdies on the 15th and 18th to compete for his first victory.

Agathe Sauzon, best French in a very provisional leaderboard, occupies fourth place at 69 (-2) ahead of Lucie André and Justine Dreher, both at (-1) after playing nine and seven holes respectively. Camille Chevalier has for the moment a very anecdotal top 15 in the par (after nine holes). Céline Herbin, follows at 72 (+1). She is one of the five French women to have made it to recording, just like Isabelle Boineau (64th to +3), Ines Lescudier (82nd to +5) and Anne-Lise Caudal (93rd to +8).

European number one Georgia Hall and reigning champion Azahara Muñoz were both tied at (-2) after five holes, alongside María Hernández after 8, Olivia Cowan after 9 and Agathe Sauzon, who signed a card 69.

Only 45 players out of a total of 96 completed their 18 holes when the game was suspended on Thursday.