(Reuters) - Australian Simon Nash made a determined move to earn his full European Tour card when he took the early lead in the OPEN de SAINT-OMER presented by NEUFLIZE 2007.
A five under par 66 earned him a one shot lead over Spanish players Santiago Luna and Carl Suneson, Dane Anders Schmidt Hansen, England's Daniel Denison and Frenchman Michael Lorenzo-Vera.
Queenslander Nash, 28, finished fourth in the TCL Classic in China and seventh in the Madeira Island Open earlier in the year but is struggling to secure his full Tour spot for next season.
A victory at the Aa St Omer Golf Club would seal his card, which he missed out on his full card at the Qulaifying School - Final Stage last year.
Since his Madeira result in March, the Brisbane professional has only a tied 57th place in last week's BA CA Golf Open presented by Telekom Austria to show for his efforts.
In the Portuguese Open, he missed the cut after running up a two-shot penalty by going to the wrong tee.
"I need to do something pretty big to be honest," said Nash, who included a chip-in among his six birdies. "I will get into Russia in August but I need to do something pretty special like get through The Open qualifier and do something there."