Montgomerie birdied three of his first four holes

Scotland's Colin Montgomerie put the misery of the US Open behind him when he carded an opening three-under-par 68 in the French Open on Thursday.

In his first outing with new caddie Craig Connelly, Montgomerie began with three birdies in the first four holes.

The 44-year-old dropped shots at 16 and eight in testing winds but finished just three shots off joint leaders James Kamte and Wales' Kyron Sullivan.

The pair shot six under par 65s, while England's Graeme Storm is five under.

The leaders Sullivan and South African Kamte are ranked only 421st and 386th in the world, but excelled in blustery conditions at Le Golf National.

Playing in the last group of the day, Sullivan completed one of only two bogey-free rounds.

I've got my swing back again, the one that I had back in the 90s Colin Montgomerie

And he said: "A lot of guys from the Challenge Tour are thinking about making the cut, but you have to put that out of your mind and try to get into contention."

Montgomerie, who missed the cut at the US Open, was content with his start after hitting 16 greens in regulation.

"This is my type of golf course. You have to be very precise on distance and that's difficult because you can easily get wet," he said.

"I've got my swing back again, the one that I had back in the 90s. I can now hit on the left again. That was standard back in the 90s, it was what I used to do. Physically I'm OK and I know that I can do it again."