IT WAS a day of mixed fortunes for Swindon’s David Howell in Paris, after his lightning start was washed away on the back nine.

Howell made the ideal start to the Alstom Open de France in between two thunderstorms which disrupted play at Le Golf National on Thursday.

Play was suspended just moments before it was due to get under way at 7.30am local time, although the initial delay was just 30 minutes.

When play did commence Howell picked up from where he left off in Germany, at the BMW International Open, having carded a seven-under-par round on the final day to give him a top ten finish.

The recently-turned 40-year-old wasted no time securing birdies on the 10th and 11th - his first two holes - when play did commence.

However, only 42 minutes of play was possible before the threat of lightning again forced players off the course, with Howell joined on two under par by Denmark's Lasse Jensen at the top of the leaderboard.

Tournament officials later announced that play would resume at 10.40 local time, a total delay of two hours and 28 minutes, which would have a knock-on effect for the later starters, including the hat-trick seeking Graeme McDowell.

Howell almost holed from 60 feet on the 13th but did not have to wait long for his next birdie, chipping in from just off the green on the par-five 14th.

At three under par the former Ryder Cup star held a one-shot lead over Jensen, France's Joel Stalter and Spain's Adrian Otaegui.

The Broome Manor pro extended that lead on the very next hole as he secured a birdie on the par-four 15th, however he was soon back to three-under when he bogeyed the 16th, to go out with a score of 32.

Howell looked to have steadied the ship with a run of five straight pars but found himself slipping back into the chasing pack when a wayward tee shot left him with a bogey five on the fourth.

The 40-year-old finished his round off four shots off the leader, Austrian Bernd Wiesberger, as he bogeyed the seventh, after finding another bunker, before chipping 15 feet past the hole with his fourth shot on the ninth to return him to level par heading into the second day.