French trilogy finds fitting finale at Cordon

The European Challenge Tour tees it up in France this week for the third and final time on the 2016 schedule at the Cordon Golf Open.

Before our French trilogy concludes at Golf Blue Green de Pléneuf Val André, we took a look back on our previous French forays – and discussed the ongoing Gallic dominance of the Road to Oman Rankings.

Tears flow for Lima in Saint-Omer

The first French event of the season was the Najeti Open in June, where José-Filipe Lima was the victor by two shots for his second victory at Aa Saint-Omer GC – 12 years after his first.

A final round of 68 was enough to overhaul third round leader Duncan Stewart, with Alessandro Tadini also climbing the leaderboard on the last day to finish runner-up – just as he had been for Lima’s previous triumph in 2004.

Lima was emotional after securing his first win in seven years, and the result helped the 34 year old to qualify for the Olympic Games, where he finished in a tie for 48^threpresenting Portugal – who he will also represent at the forthcoming World Cup of Golf, alongside 2015 Road to Oman Rankings winner Ricardo Gouveia.

Bjӧrk on song at Le Vaudreuil

One month later, the Challenge Tour returned to France for Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge, with Alexander Bjӧrk taking a maiden victory by overturning a two-shot deficit on the final day.

The Swede was inspired by the successes of Henrik Stenson at the previous week’s Open Championship, and Alex Noren at the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open before that, as he held on to beat Nick Cullen and Aaron Rai by one shot.

The 26 year old arrived at Golf PGA France du Vaudreuil in great form after top 15 finishes in each of his previous four events, and two further top tens this season have put him in seventh place in the Road to Oman Rankings.

La rue to Oman

A quick glance at the current Road to Oman Rankings tells its own story – the French are enjoying a terrific 2016 season on the Challenge Tour.

Romain Langasque leads the way thanks to three runner-up finishes and three further top fives, with Joël Stalter and Damien Perrier at five and six in the Rankings after victories at the Swedish Challenge hosted by Robert Karlsson and the D+D REAL Czech Challenge respectively.

Five top ten finishes have put Matthieu Pavon in tenth place in his maiden season on Europe’s top developmental tour, while two other tournament winners – Adrien Saddier, who won the Fred Olsen Challenge de España and Clément Sordet, victorious at the Turkish Airlines Challenge – sit just outside the top 15.

France has a strong history on the Challenge Tour, with Sebastien Gros and Thomas Linard graduating to the European Tour last year, and, with this year set to be a record-breaking one, it is with great excitement that we approach this week’s final French tournament.