Benjamin Hebert hailed a brilliant week for French golf after seeing three of his countrymen join him in the top ten at the Alfred Dunhill Championship.
Charl Schwartzel was the victor for the fourth time at Leopard Creek Country Club but Grégory Bourdy was then four shots behind the leader at 11 under with Hebert sealing the best finish of his European Tour career a shot further back.
Rookie Sébastien Gros was fourth at nine under in his first event as a full Member of the European Tour, with fellow Challenge Tour graduate Thomas Linard in the group at eight under.
The stunning start to the 2016 season comes hot on the heels of Victor Dubuisson's recent win at the Turkish Airlines Open and, with the likes of Alexander Levy and Gary Stal also flying the flag for the 2018 Ryder Cup host nation, French golf is in rude health.
"There are three Frenchmen in the top four," said Hebert. "It's a brilliant week for French golf and I'm very happy for the Challenge Tour graduates from France because there are two in the top ten, that's great."
Hebert knows a thing or two about The Challenge Tour having claimed six wins on that circuit himself but he is still searching for a first win on The European Tour.
The 28 year old got within a shot of Schwartzel at one point on Sunday afternoon but three birdies on the back nine saw the South African pull away while a bogey on the last denied Hebert a share of second.
"I'm a bit disappointed because today was not a good day for me, I didn't play very well," he said. "My putting didn't work very well for the week.
"It's a good start to the season, now we have a little time (off) so we're going to enjoy it for sure.
"Third is alright but I was well placed on 18 and I had a dirty ball so the wedge shot was not very easy and I had a bogey.
"It would be better to finish tied second with Grégory."
Gros fired the best round of the week with a 63 on Saturday and gave himself a real chance of emulating Alvaro Quiros, who won his first event as a full Member here in the 2007 season.
Back-to-back double-bogeys on the third and fourth holes in his closing round may have derailed that dream but Gros was still rightly proud of his performance in just his second European Tour event.
"That's very positive for what I've been doing this week," he said. "Unfortunately it was not the day I expected but playing with such a player as Charl Schwartzel was a great learning (experience) for me, he was a great teacher and it was an amazing week here."
While Gros is just beginning his European Tour adventure, four-time winner Bourdy was playing in his 311th event in Malelane and he overcame a triple-bogey on the seventh to shoot an impressive closing 68.
"It was a nice week," he said. "I think maybe I had a chance but after my triple-bogey I stayed patient and I played great at the end, so to finish second was a good result."
