Romain Langasque drew on his experience of playing with Martin Kaymer and Bernd Wiesberger at last week’s 100thOpen de France as he made an impressive start at the D+D REAL Slovakia Challenge.
The Frenchman, who has not missed a cut in any of his ten events this season, made seven birdies around Penati Golf Resort on his way to an opening six under par round of 66 to trail leader Ryan Fox by one shot on the European Challenge Tour.
The 23 year old has already recorded three top five finishes on the 2016 Road to Oman, but it was his first taste of European Tour life in Paris last week that inspired his fast start in the Senica sunshine.
“Last week was amazing,” he said. “I played with Bernd and Martin for the first two rounds, in front of big crowds so a lot of extra pressure, and that was a good test for me.
“It showed me that my game is ready to play under that pressure and on that kind of stage, and you learn about the attitude required – Martin was a few shots over par in the first round but he didn’t change anything, just continued to talk with me and play his own game, and he ended up fifth in the tournament.
“I now will try to do the same, continue with the same attitude that means it is not about winning or about losing, it’s just about playing your best.
“We talked about the Challenge Tour a bit because they both began here as well, and about the atmosphere here – they have good memories of playing here.
“It’s great to be able to speak to a player like Martin who has won two Majors and ten years ago he was in the same place as me, so that gives me more confidence about what comes next.”
Langasque – who, as reigning Amateur Champion, competed in this year’s Masters Tournament – has enjoyed a successful rookie campaign on the Challenge Tour so far, currently sitting in seventh place in the Road to Oman Rankings.
But the one thing that has proven elusive so far is a maiden professional victory, though he insists that his time will come, whether that’s this week in Slovakia or some other time in the near future.
“I can’t say my target is to win, nor that it isn’t my target,” he said. “I will just try to do my best and continue like all the other tournaments. I feel really good in my game, so it could be this week, but if it isn’t that’s not a problem, I’ll continue like that – if I play like today for three more rounds I will be close to the win.
“My game today was really good. I shot six under but it could have been eight or nine because I missed some putts, but the two times I made bad drives I finished with a perfect lie – those were the little things that allowed me to stay focused on my game.
“My game has been in good shape for three or four tournaments now, and last week at the French Open was a really good experience for me.
“The course is amazing with all these great views. Every hole is a new challenge and it’s really cool to play on a course like this one – I hope we have more courses like this because they will help prepare us better for the European Tour.”
