Victor Perez returns to the scene of his Olympic exploits this week as he tees it up on home soil at the FedEx Open de France.
Le Golf National once again plays host to Continental Europe's oldest national open, just two months after welcoming the world's best at Paris 2024.
Perez is no stranger to the 2018 Ryder Cup venue but his best finish in four Opens de France is a tie for 14th, although he eclipsed that result in August.
The three-time DP World Tour winner carded a stunning closing 63 to finish in fourth and while he admits missing out on a medal was bittersweet, he is happy to be back at the scene of his "biggest" performance.
"My best score on this course in basically the biggest time," he said. "Maybe I'll say different on Sunday.
"It was a great week. I would say the best (and) worst fourth place of my career and something I'll never forget, having 30,000 people cheer me on with a few holes to go with a chance to get a medal is something I'll never forget for sure.
"Very happy to be back. Obviously different than it was a couple of months ago and definitely weird to kind of come back to a place because usually you only go to the location once a year.
"A place I'm obviously very familiar with, different set-up but should be a fun week."
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With his Rolex Series win at the 2023 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and impressive finishes in the Players Championship and World Golf Championships, Perez has been the poster boy for French golf in recent years but he now has some competition at the top of bill.
World Number 26 Matthieu Pavon has recently broken through with wins on the DP World and PGA Tours, while David Ravetto and Frederic Lacroix have both recently claimed maiden DP World Tour victories.
Add in established winners like Antoine Rozner and Romain Langasque among a host of rising stars, and French golf is in rude health as its storied open prepares for its 106th edition.
"I think we have seen it this year with a lot of great results, a lot of French guys knocking on the door right now," he said.
"Seven players qualifying for the DP World Tour Play-Offs and hopefully more to come with good results.
"It shows with Matt winning on the PGA TOUR earlier in the year. I think everybody is just kind of like climbing step after step and I hope for more.
"I think it's great to see more and more French players competing and winning which is obviously the point of this whole thing."
