The DP World Tour returns to Le Golf National, venue of the 2018 Ryder Cup, for the 104th edition of the Open de France after a two-year absence on the schedule. Here are your five things to know.
Historic event
The Open de France is continental Europe’s oldest national Open and has formed part of the DP World Tour’s schedule since its inception in 1972. First played in 1906, the event returns to the schedule after being cancelled in 2020 and 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Arnaud Massy won the inaugural edition of France’s national open on home soil in 1906 before successfully defending his title in 1907, the same year he made history by becoming the first non-British player to win The Open Championship. Since then, there have been six further Frenchmen who have won their national open, with six-time DP World Tour champion Thomas Levet – playing this week on a tournament invite – the most recent in 2011. Frenchman Marcel Dallemagne remains the only player to have won this trophy three years in a row after victories at Saint-Germain in 1936, Chantilly in 1937 and Fourqueux in 1938. Countryman Jean-François Remésy is one of only two players to have won the event on multiple occasions since it moved to the outskirts of Paris and Le Golf National’s Albatros course in 1991.
Colsaerts to make long-awaited title defence
Nicolas Colsaerts ended a seven-year winless run with a thrilling one-shot victory when this historic national open was last held in 2019. The Belgian began the week battling to hold on to his Tour card but sealed his full playing privileges for the subsequent two seasons. After entering the final round with a three-shot lead, Colsaerts quickly extended it to five before he made three bogeys in the middle of his round to sit two shots back with six holes to play. As rivals George Coetzee and Joachim B. Hansen found trouble over the closing four-hole stretch, Colsaerts capitalised to par his last three holes to clinch his third Tour title. The 2012 Ryder Cup star will hope a return to the scene of fond memories can inspire him as he continues his recovery from a rare kidney disease diagnosed late last year. “It is a tournament and a venue which has always been close to my heart so to win in 2019 was very special, and it will be a lot of fun to step onto that first tee as defending champion,” Colsaerts said.
Ryder Cup past and present
Le Golf National will forever be associated with Europe’s memorable 17½-10½ Ryder Cup victory over the United States in 2018. Winning captain Thomas Bjørn is in the field this week along with Thorbjørn Olesen, who beat Jordan Spieth in the singles on the way to the hosts’ victory. Fellow Danes Rasmus and Nicolai Højgaard will also be in action as they look to add to their haul of five Tour titles between them and boost their respective hopes of a Ryder Cup debut next year in Rome in the process. Ryder Cup players have dominated the tournament’s recent history, with 2019 winner Colsaerts following in the footsteps of Alex Noren (2018) and Tommy Fleetwood (2017). Robert MacIntyre made an early statement about his 2023 Ryder Cup intentions with a play-off victory against US Open Champion Matt Fitzpatrick in Italy last week. Will we see another European Ryder Cup hopeful enjoy success this week in France?
Host of French hopes aiming for home glory
French golf fans will be eager to watch many of their home-grown stars in person again, potentially for the first time in three years. Victor Perez headlines the French contingent in the field this week, on the back of a third-place finish last week and having won his second Tour title at the Dutch Open in June. He is the best-placed French golfer on the DP World Tour Rankings in Partnership with Rolex, with fellow two-time DP World Tour winner Antoine Rozner and Matthieu Pavon also enjoying good seasons and motivated to impress as they look to boost their bid to qualify for the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in November. Julien Guerrier, another home hope, has twice narrowly missed out on a maiden DP World Tour title in England and Wales this season.
Chance to win ranking points with Dubai in sight
The 2022 DP World Tour campaign is nearing a conclusion, with seven tournaments left before the DP World Tour Championship from November 17-20. To be exempt for the season finale at Jumeirah Golf Estates, players must be in the top 50 of the DP World Tour Rankings in Partnership with Rolex at the end of the penultimate event of the campaign – the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa. Among those on the ‘bubble’ who are teeing it up in France are Sebastian Soderberg, Hero Open winner Sean Crocker and Scott Jamieson, who has recorded two top-20 finishes in his last three events. This week’s winner in France will claim 710 DP World Tour Ranking Points with Ryan Fox, Adrian Meronk and Thriston Lawrence, all in the top ten in the season-long rankings, in the field.
