The Debrief: Open de Bretagne

The European Challenge Tour headed to France for the third time this season, where Sebastian Heisele secured his maiden victory after a thrilling final day’s battle with New Zealand’s Josh Geary. Here’s what you might have missed from an exciting week at Golf Blue Green de Pléneuf Val-André.

Heisele roars home

Winning your maiden title is no easy feat, but Sebastian Heisele certainly secured his in emphatic style, carding five birdies over his closing nine holes to secure a two-shot victory. Needing a par on the final hole, the German hit a near-perfect approach shot to within a foot of the cup, with a tap in was all that was required to clinch the title.

Home hopefuls

As is tradition, the Open de Bretagne drew substantial crowds, with many of the spectators following local hopefuls Damien Perrier and Antoine Rozner.

With the home fans behind him, Perrier duly delivered, carding a three under par 67 to record his second consecutive top ten finish at the tournament. The Brittany man has now finished in fourth place in two of his last three events, following his impressive performance in Northern Ireland, and jumps up to 39th in the Challenge Tour Rankings.

Meanwhile, Rozner continued to demonstrate the form which has seen him clinch two titles this year, recording his ninth top 20 finish of the season.

Making a move

Slow play was a hot topic at this week’s Open de Bretagne with the Challenge Tour testing a new pace of play system for the first time. The move follows hot on the heels of the European Tour’s new four-point plan, unveiled two weeks ago.

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One to watch

Englishman Richard Mansell continued to impress, recording the tied lowest round of the week, a six under par 64 on Friday to be right in the mix for the weekend. The 24-year-old, who captured his first career win on the PGA EuroPro Tour earlier this year, currently sits in 66th place on the Rankings despite playing only four tournaments this season. With three top 15 finishes in his last three events, including a tie for fifth at the KPMG Trophy, it looks like he will be one to watch as the Road to Mallorca Rankings continues to heat up over the coming weeks.