European Tour - Open de France

Everyone seems to be full of praise for Le Golf National course every year we get here. Drama, risk and reward, one of the best setups on tour, best finishing holes, great amphitheatre, brilliant for the crowds, etc., are just some of the atributes you hear all the time listening to the pros. So, it must be good then... If things are all right in 5 years time, I'd love to try and get there for the Ryder Cup...
 
It's interesting looking through the winners' list to see many well known names but probably just as many that were not necessarily from the A-list, which goes to show that this is always very much an open contest. The French themselves have a pretty decent record here in the last 10 years or so, and I wouldn't put it past Jacquelin, Levet or some of the younger French guys to come to the front of the class on Sunday. The eyes will be also on those few who are keen and still have a chance to book a place for the Open in two weeks time: Bjorn, Luiten, Warren, Gallacher, Larrazabal, etc., but with €500k at stake for the winner, many more from down the R2D list could 'open' that gate if they come out and win this week. From the so-called A-list, with McDowell struggling to make cuts and Donald probably interested just as much in visiting Le Chateaux Cheval Blanc for some wine tasting, I'd probably fancy Poulter the most as he has a decent record here. And will be interesting to see how our top American visitor fares this year, but I'd be pretty certain that Kooch will do better than Bubba did a couple of years ago (was hoping to see Steele coming back after his solid performances here the last two years).
 
Field strength is slightly down from last year's 46 to probably ~44 points, mainly due to late WDs from Westwood and then from Paul Lawrie. The weather forecast is not so bad, with some rain and some moderate winds possible over the next four days. Hoping for a good contest and some great drama down the 15, 16, 17 and 18th on Sunday afternoon...

Cheers PD, 44 owgr still pretty decent. I am betting on Ilonen. And of course: go Luiten!

The last two champs, Siem and Levet, sinking from the start...

You've jinxed Ilonen there, TMO...

That's pretty bizarre, a double and a quadruple bogey (a 9) from Ilonen... Bye bye €10. Oh well.

Huge numbers being posted early. Good lord!

Thanks pd,

Love that about Le Golf National...not sure about playing it, but it's fun to watch. Just had a quick count and after about 3 hours of play we already have around 30 doubles or worse (incl. 8 8s and 9s), but also over 110 birdies...

The Danes take center stage, not surprised by Hansen, followed him a bit at the Irish and he was playing very solidly and looked confident...

Still on the front nine for Gareth Shaw but how fantastic to seem him taking early advantage of the place he earned in the field!

Allez France! A win for either Dubuisson, Wattel or Levy would be great for the French, all of them pretty good prospects...
 
Despite that bogey at the 17th I've a feeling that Kaymer is slowly moving back to some top form... hope I won't jinx him now with the tough 18th coming up...

EDIT: Didn't jinx Kaymer but certainly spooked Dubuisson and Levy...

Good work from Thomas Pieters, always interesting to see how the non-American collegiate "grads" fare in their first pro opportunities; Brandon Stone and Fritelli have had some good results, but it would be good to have another Belgian mixing it up as a pro.
(Always get the impression there's a self-destruct button just waiting for Dubuisson to press . . . . )

You can say that again about Pieters, two more birdies after your post...

Agree on Victor Dubuisson, he can take the lead from his fellow Victor on the Challenge Tour who smashed the course record in Germany today...

Solid first round from Kooch, always good to see him playing well... seems to enjoy the place and the crowds today and the feeling looked to be mutual...

Luke should take some lessons from the Mechanic on how to mix and golf...

About time Kuchar started to earn his appearance fee.

And: What's happened to Francesco Molinari? Making a mess of his round today and no real top form this season except a couple of rounds at Wentworth.

68 golfers inside the cut-line, separated by just six strokes.

I think Kooch can't wait to go Paris sightseeing after all that appraisal by Bubba. But little did Kooch know that "that tower" Bubba referred to actually was Bubba's own wife.

...and it seems can't wait showing him the best café's...

Kooch said that he plans to take the family on a break in the South of France after this and before the Open, so maybe the prospect of two extra days of holidays was too hard to resist... although at the current rate is not completely unconcievable that 3-over may just make the weekend after all...

Bjorn is not a happy camper after finishing bogey-bogey throwing away a 2-shot lead, even refused to give interviews there at the end. And as this golf course continues to show its teeth, Kaymer went a step further and threw away almost everything today. Yesterday he couldn't stress more how much he admired and liked the golf course and the setup, I wonder what is he thinking now...

Like it or not, it's going to be a dramatic finish this weekend, that's for sure...

Yes, Not sure about Duke Butler's formula, but would say Sybi will have to hang around at the golf for her Mister Matt. Even chance they'll be accompanying the most interesting man in the world tomorrow!

Shaping up to be a strong leaderboard come evening, regardless of what some of our favourites might think.
Looks like one of those courses where guys can get on a birdie train almost as easily as they can start going sideways.

Good stuff again from Gareth Shaw, about whom I know exactly nothing.

Not a great start for Hansen... Yesterday the afternoon starters scored better, but there's no sign of that happening today, so the chances of the +3's are going up fast.
 
It's been a terrific couple of weeks for Gareth Show, no doubt, let's hope he keeps it going... He's from Lurgan (27-28 years old) and topped the OoM on the Alps Tour last year and with that earned the card for the Challenge Tour this year. Was on CT before but lost his card after a couple of years. Great amateur career as well...

Justin Walters with a 13 on 9th. I could do better... (ET record?)

Looks like le course is playing easier this morning, or is it just suicidal tendancies less evident?

Allez Mattttteoooo!

Jinxed Matteo big time there earlier...

Great performance from McDowell this week after the disappointment of last week, he's been either very good or very poor this year. Should be a great final round tomorrow...

Based on current situation, the top 5 inside the top 20 in the R2D that would qualify for the Open are: Sterne, Rumford, Ilonen, Bjorn and Warren. Luiten drops to 6th spot, but there's still a lot of tough golf left to play...

PD, I understand that Luiten wilkl be very high on the "reserve" list for the Open (OWGR) and that there will be more than enough spots that need filling so Luiten will be in, do you agree?

ps PD: Sterne would be moving into the top 50 OWGR, does that count for anything?

That's true TMO, don't lose hope with Luiten, there may well be enough 'alternate' spots out there for him, we'll see...

Top 50 not really counting anymore at this stage as far as the Open is concerned...

EDIT: ...having said that, Luiten could help his cause by trying to finish as well as possible to earn some extra owgr points...

Well Luiten is not doing a very good job in the OWGR accumulating points dept, drops like a brick at +4 for the round after 12 (down 22). Meanwhile, the course seems to be playing a lot easier today judged by the scores so far. Graeme Storm doing very well so far, only one off the lead...

And David Howell, so close, already puts himself in an awkward spot with a double on the first hole...

Warren needs to finish 16th or better to pass Luiten on the rankings. He has got a four shot margin right now. Hopefully for him, he won't be suffering an implosion like he did in Spain earlier this year, as Luiten should be good for the Open via the alternates list, but Warren needs this

Warren jinxed, ouch! Hope he recovers at 17/18

Not many more prone to meltdowns that Warren . . . . .

Sterne now trying his best to be like Marc.

Edit: Great par from Richard - obviously made of Sterner stuff.

Small fortunes (and job security?) being thrown away on the final four holes.
Sacre bleu.

In the end by my calculations Warren just gets the last qualifying spot for the Open, overcoming Gallacher by only €888!

Obviously, a great day for the Scots.......

Fantastic win for McDowell!!!

Great win for GMac. And deservedly so!

8 weeks in Mr. Consistency's life  : MC, win, MC, win, MC, MC, MC, win.

Looks like an IQ test. What's next in line? T32nd?

Bizarre run from GMAC.....but I am sure he would take 5 missed cuts out of every 8 events if he won an event in between them lol!

Most players would take a full season of MC's for a win.

He has outwardly remained pretty confident throughout though, despite this feast or famine period.

But then again, what should you expect from the man who had the self-assurance to wear a pink shirt and a cardigan whilst winning the US Open...

He is not called g-prat for nothing.

So if he misses the cut this week, get the cash on him for Muirfield.

princedracula wrote:In the end by my calculations Warren just gets the last qualifying spot for the Open, overcoming Gallacher by only €888!

Gallacher gets in due to the (injury) withdrawal of John Daly.