ADARE (Reuters) - Frenchman Gregory Havret carded the lowest score of the week to grab the clubhouse lead early in the third round of the Irish Open at Adare on Saturday.

Havret was out in the very first group of the day and recorded seven birdies, including three in succession from his 14th hole, in a round of 65 for a four-under-par tally on the Adare Manor course.

The 31-year old Aix-en-Province golfer began his third round in a lowly share of 60th place on three over and having just made the cut.

But Havret headed to lunch just strokes two behind compatriot Michael Lorenzo-Vera who had yet to tee off on the third day.

"I played well, really well, all the way around and the course was a little easier after the rain we had overnight with the greens a lot softer," said Havret.

"There were many good shots and overall it was a pretty good round.

"But the course is definitely playing the easiest it has been all week and four under par after three rounds is a good score around here. I should be pretty close to the lead at the end of the day," he said.

Havret's score could have been a lot lower as he only birdied one of the four par fives. He three-putted the par five 12th hole for par and then missed a five-foot putt for birdie at the last after putting his second shot into a greenside bunker.

Prior to last week, when he finished seventh in Milan, Havret had been struggling to find the form that earned him victory last July when he defeated World Number Two Phil Mickelson to win the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond.

However a 10-minute session on the practice range last week in Milan with his coach was all Havret said he needed to secure his first top-10 of the year.

"I was very bad up until seeing my coach on Tuesday in Italy but in 10 minutes he noticed what I was doing wrong and it's a lot better," said Havret.

"It was all to do with my posture but I hadn't seen him for months and it was just amazing how quickly he managed to sort me out."

(Editing by Alan Baldwin)