Stewart fancies fond French return

Duncan Stewart is hoping to feel the benefits of a week off as he returns to a course where he has twice finished in the top five for Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge.

The Scot, who claimed a maiden Challenge Tour title at this season’s Challenge de Madrid, finished in a tie for fourth at Golf PGA France du Vaudreuil in the tournament’s maiden staging in 2013 before tying for fifth 12 months ago.

The 32 year old currently sits in 12^thposition in the Road to Oman Rankings and, having played seven consecutive events before a well-earned rest, is confident he can perform well again on French soil.

“It’s strange but I do like this course,” he said. “It’s one of those courses where you need to shape it both ways off the tee and it’s not the longest so it’s more about being accurate with irons and taking the spin off it.

“I maybe had a chance to push on and win this last year but we then had a rain delay and I didn’t play my best on the last three holes after we went back out, but I was struggling to make cuts last year so I was happy with a fifth place.

“It’s been a bit different weather-wise the last few years with thunderstorms, but it looks like it’s going to be lovely this week – it’s been a good event to me so hopefully it can continue.”

Stewart clearly enjoys playing in France, with not only Le Vaudreuil but also Saint-Omer proving to be happy hunting grounds following his fourth place in the Najeti Open last month.

“I seem to do alright over here,” he said. “Hopefully I can get back on track this week after a nice relaxing week at home and I’ve got a good run of events coming up so I need to find that swing again and keep it going.

“I started the season well but had a few bad weeks in a row, so it was good to recharge mentally and physically and hopefully now the good game can come back again.

“I actually watched a lot of the Open, and it was just so good to see – not that you need motivating to come back out, but let’s go try to get somewhere close to that, and use that motivation to try to get better.”

The Open Championship – which caught the attention of the wider sporting world, as well as Stewart – was won by Henrik Stenson, a former winner of the Challenge Tour Rankings.

There were also seven current Challenge Tour players in the field at Royal Troon – Dave Coupland, Ryan Evans, Scott Fernandez, James Heath, Paul Howard, Jack Senior and Clément Sordet – and Stewart is taking inspiration from their presence among the world’s elite last week.

“When we play our best we’re more than capable of making cuts at the Open or making cuts at European Tour events,” he said. “It’s just getting comfortable at that level – you notice that a lot of guys take a few years.

“If you can keep your card one season and keep going, get into more events, it’s a learning curve and once you get more comfortable, and the more you play, the better you’ll get at that level.

“I played ten or 12 events on the European Tour in 2014 and it was a great learning experience, but it’s the same at any level – you’re always learning, every week, how to be better.”