The Road to Mallorca returns to Golf International de Pont Royal this week for the fifth edition of the Hopps Open de Provence. Here are three players to look out for...
Form horse
Tom Lewis arrives in France having found form as the Road to Mallorca reaches a pivotal stage. The Englishman has climbed from 53rd to 32nd in the Rankings having registered three top 15 finishes in his last four outings. He finished in tied sixth in Sweden at the Indoor Golf Group Challenge, tied 14th in the Challenge de España a week later and last time out in the Swiss Challenge he finished tied eighth. As a two-time winner on the DP World Tour, he’ll be looking to continue trending in the right direction for the remainder of this year.
Local boy
Ugo Coussaud is the Road to Mallorca Rankings Number One and is enjoying a stellar year on the European Challenge Tour. The Frenchman started the season in red-hot form, finishing no lower than 21st in each of the first eight events. He’s recorded one win, three second place finished and one other top ten to all but secure promotion to the DP World Tour for the first time. Coussaud finished tied 5th at Golf International de Pont Royal in 2021 so is familiar with the layout. Don’t put it past him to make it win number two of the season this week.
The outsider
David Boote is arguably playing his best golf of the season at just the right time. He’s finished inside the top 20 twice in his last five outings, with a season-best tenth in the Open de Portugal at Royal Óbidos last month. The Welshman also has experience playing at Golf International de Pont Royal. This will be the fourth time he’s teed it up here with a best finish of tied 13th in 2019 following rounds of 69-72-67-71. Currently 84th in the Rankings, he’ll be hoping for a positive result this week to move into the top 72 and book his place at next week’s Hainan Open in China.
