Open de France Archives - Golf Digest Middle East

Rasmus Hojgaard continues to dominate at French Open

Matt Smith — Sat, 24 Sep 2022 08:38:56 +0000

By Matt Smith
Danish star Rasmus Hojgaard continued to rip up Le National on Day 2 the French Open to open up a six-shot lead after hitting a recond 36-hole 15-under. The Dane six-under 65 on Friday to his stunning opening 62.

The 21-year-old is aiming to become the first Danish winner in the 116-year history of Continental Europe’s oldest national open, and he took another large step towards a fourth DP World Tour title with a domineering performance at the challenging 2018 Ryder Cup venue.

Playing alongside his compatriot and 2023 Ryder Cup vice-captain Thomas Bjorn, Hojgaard’s round caught fire at the 15th with the first of three successive birdies, before picking up four shots on the back nine with just a single bogey on the fifth.

His 36-hole halfway total of 127 strokes is the tournament’s lowest since becoming a Tour event in 1972 and moved him six clear of Frenchman Paul Barjon, whose three-under 68 delighted the crowds late in the day as he moved into outright second spot on his debut at his national open.

South Africa’s George Coetzee was a shot further back on eight-under after a five-under 66, while Rasmus Højgaard’s playing partner Antoine Rozner boosted his own hopes of a home victory with a 66 which moved him alongside Alexander Björk on seven-under.

“The course still plays tricky, I just played very well again today, I hit a lot of greens, gave myself a lot of chances and kept the bogeys away more or less, so it’s all good,” said Hojgaard. “Over the last few tournaments I’ve been making a lot of birdies, just had too many bogeys or worse. I knew there was a lot of good stuff in there, I just needed to make it happen over four rounds so and far I’ve done that.

“You’ve got a few options out there, there are a few tricky tee shots where you have to stand up and hit a proper shot, and I enjoy that test.

“I’m not going to change much the next couple of days, it’s been working fine so far so I need to go out there and be patient, limit the mistakes and make a few birdies. It’s my fifth week in a row so I’m going to relax now for the afternoon.”

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DP World Tour: Rasmus Hojgaard leads a French revolution with 62

Matt Smith — Fri, 23 Sep 2022 06:05:12 +0000

By Matt Smith
It was a Danish delight for Rasmus Hojgaard at the French Open as he equalled the course record at Le Golf National with a nine-under par opening round 62 which featured 10 birdies.

The 21-year-old already has three DP World Tour titles to his name, but has yet to win in the 2022 season having claimed a victory in each of the last three campaigns.

Hojgaard, whose twin brother Nicolai won a second DP World Tour title of his own earlier this year at the Ras Al Khaimah Championship in the UAE, enjoyed a strong finish to last week’s Italian Open — carding a final round 66 at Marco Simone Golf Club — and he carried that form into this week’s event at the 2018 Ryder Cup venue.

He birdied four of his first five holes — his only dropped shot of the day coming in between at the second hole – en route to a five under front nine of 31, and he soared into the lead courtesy of four birdies on the way home for a nine-under total.

Sweden’s Alexander Bjork sits second after signing for a seven-under 64, while Frenchman Paul Barjon was a shot further back on six-under, the 30-year-old playing his home open for the first time.

“It’s not that easy but today was very good,” said Hojgaard. “To be fair I didn’t feel like I was that good off the tee but I felt like my approach play today was very good, alongside a very good putter — I holed a few long putts and you have to do that to shoot nine-under.”

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Another week, another rules controversy as Euro Tour player’s preferred lies and 10-shot penalty lead to DQ

Golf Digest Middle East — Thu, 17 Oct 2019 21:38:49 +0000

Andy Astfalck/NurPhoto via Getty Images

By Joel Beall
It is a good thing professional golf does not have a “Number of Days Since Last Rules Controversy” sign placed at tournament sites. Because it would never crack double digits.

Already this week the sport has seen Lee Ann Walker assessed 58 penalty strokes for having her caddie improperly line her up on putts and Jesper Parnevik dinged for not taking a mulligan. Joining those ill-famed ranks is Marcel Siem.

Playing in the European Tour’s Open de France, Siem was under the impression that preferred lies were in place for the first round at Le Golf National (site of last years Ryder Cup) due to wet conditions. As such, Siem, 39, took the opportunity to lift, clean and replace his ball five times over his first nine holes.

One problem: Preferred lies were not instituted, meaning Siem incurred a two-shot penalty for each violation.

A total Siem, a former winner at the event, could not abide.

“That was a little too much for me and I disqualified myself,” Siem wrote on his Facebook page. “I thought I owed you the explanation.”

It’s a double-whammy, as the dropout means Siem now has to go to European Tour Q-school to retain his card for next season. Not that Siem seems concerned, ending his note with, “I promise I’ll be back.”

A tough break for Siem, but on the bright side, it was still 48 penalty strokes less than Walker. So, progress?

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Stars to host Dubai Duty Free Irish Open on rotation in British Masters mimic

Kent Gray — Wed, 07 Feb 2018 09:11:23 +0000

Photo courtesy European Tour.

By Kent Gray
Title sponsor Dubai Duty Free has hailed a move that will see the Irish Open hosted by the proud golfing nation’s biggest names on an annual rotation from 2019.

Rory McIlroy’s ‘Rory Foundation’ has hosted the European Tour stop since 2015 and will do so again when the elite $7 million Rolex Series event is taken to the famed Ballyliffin G.C. links in County Donegal from July 5-8. But from 2019, the DDF Irish Open will follow the model that has seen the British Masters revived as former European Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley and major champions Darren Clarke, Padraig Harrington, Graeme McDowell and McIlroy serve as hosts on a rotation.

Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of Dubai Duty Free, has welcomed the move.

“We have enjoyed working with the European Tour and seeing the tournament grow dramatically in such a short space of time, with it now part of the Rolex Series. We are happy with the plans to rotate the hosting of the tournament from 2019 onwards and delighted that Paul McGinley will be the first to take on that role,” said McLoughlin.

“I would like to thank Rory and his Foundation for hosting the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open since 2015. Rory’s involvement in the tournament was a key factor in our decision to become the title sponsor at that time.”

The DDF Irish Open is the second of three successive Rolex Series events leading into the 147th Open Championship at Carnoustie from July 19-22. Ballyliffin is sandwiched between the Open de France (June 28-July 1) on the 2018 Ryder Cup venue, Le Golf National, and the Scottish Open (June 12-15) at Gullane in East Lothian.

The precise future rotation of players and years will be revealed in due course, along with the venue for 2019.

“Today’s announcement is yet another exciting development in the history of one of our great tournaments,” said European Tour Chief Executive Keith Pelley.

“Ireland has been blessed with many legendary golfers over the years and to have five of them agree to host the country’s national Open over the next five years shows a terrific commitment both to their homeland and to the European Tour.

“I cannot use the word commitment without paying special thanks to Rory McIlroy, who has worked tirelessly alongside our fantastic tournament sponsor Dubai Duty Free over the past four years to raise the tournament to an entirely new level, and I am delighted he will return to the role of host in a future year.”

Darren Clarke, the 2011 Open champion from Royal St George’s and patron of the local MENA Tour, gave a hint of what is in store for future DDF Irish Opens to EuropeanTour.com.

“I’m absolutely delighted to have been asked to host the Irish Open and I’m looking forward to working with Colm McLoughlin and his team at Dubai Duty Free to continue the great work that Rory and the European Tour have done for the event over the last four years.

“Everyone has seen what a success the British Masters has become with Ian [Poulter], Luke [Donald], Lee [Westwood] and Justin [Rose at Walton Heath this October] all hosting the event. I think it’s great that we have Rory, Graeme and myself from Northern Ireland and then Paul and Padraig from the South. There will be a natural rotation of the tournament around Ireland and I’m sure there will be a fair bit of competition between the lads to see who can put on the biggest and best tournament when we are the tournament host!

“For me, the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open should have a real festival atmosphere. Our fans are some of the best in the world and one of my main goals of hosting the Irish Open will be to make sure everyone – from the players and their families to the fans, to the caddies, the volunteers, marshals and officials – has an unforgettable week.”

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Can Tommy Fleetwood bring it home?

Golf Digest Middle East — Sun, 16 Jul 2017 04:46:16 +0000

The Southport, England, native looks to please the locals by holding the claret jug at Royal Birkdale
By John Huggan

In the run-up to this week’s Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, few members of the elite field will generate more attention. Which is understandable. Playing in his home town of Southport naturally makes Tommy Fleetwood a person of interest entering the year’s third men’s major. That he’ll arrive at the course many regard as the best in England amid a run of stunning form—having risen more than 170 places in the World Rankings since last autumn—makes his story all the more intriguing.

This year alone, as well as claiming the Abu Dhabi Championship and the recent Open de France, Fleetwood has posted a string of high finishes. Most notably, the former English Amateur champion was runner-up behind World No. 1 Dustin Johnson in the WGC-Mexico Championship, second again in China’s Shenzhen International and fourth in last month’s U.S. Open, where he played alongside eventual champion Brooks Koepka in the last round. In such company, a T-6 at last month’s BMW International in Germany seems merely routine.

All of which has come about in the wake of a return to his boyhood swing coach, Alan Thompson, after a switch in March 2015 to Pete Cowen, who works with, among others, current Open champion Henrik Stenson, proved unproductive.

“I played a few practice rounds with Henrik, and I wanted to hit it like him. So I asked Pete if he could help,” Fleetwood says. “We had success early on, but I struggled with one or two moves, which affected my confidence. For whatever reason, my body wouldn’t allow me to swing the way we wanted, and we couldn’t figure out the answer.

“I changed for the right reasons though. I wanted to be a world-class player, and I went to Pete because he is arguably the best coach in the world. It just didn’t work out, but I still gained a lot from the experience. Since I went back to Alan, we’ve been able to do stuff with my swing we couldn’t do before. I used to play with a draw, but my ball flight is a lot straighter now and my swing path a lot more neutral.”

That detour in the Fleetwood career path wasn’t his first. Nor his second. To get to this point, the 26-year-old former No. 1 amateur on the planet has had to overcome a handful of obstacles put in his way.

When I started playing well all I wanted to do was win. Which was a problem. When it became clear I wasn’t going to win, I would get fed up. I played poorly on a few Sundays, finishing 50th because I wasn’t interested in finishing 30th.

On the road to Birkdale, Fleetwood had to pass—literally and figuratively—Southport’s Municipal course. It measures only 6,253 yards and plays to a standard scratch of 69, and it’s where it all began for the now 14th-ranked player in the world. “There’s a hump in the first fairway, maybe 50 yards off the tee,” he says with a smile. “I couldn’t get over it for the longest time.”

He exaggerates. Having started his love affair with the game at age 6, Fleetwood was regularly shooting in the 80s just two years later, and giving his brother, Joe, himself a former professional, a run for his decade-older money. (“One of us was an accident—not sure which,” Tommy jokes). His first handicap was 27, but he was playing off a one-handicap as a 13-year-old and plus-one a year later.

“I was a big kid who could putt well,” he says. “And I had a naturally good swing, better than it is now.”

Fleetwood’s amateur days included playing for Great Britain & Ireland in the 2009 Walker Cup at Merion and a No. 1 world ranking. (Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images)

That may well be true. For long enough, Fleetwood’s rise through golf’s ranks was all but seamless. Runner-up in the British Amateur in 2008, a Walker Cup player for Great Britain & Ireland in 2009, second in a Challenge Tour event as an amateur in 2010 and No. 1 on the Challenge Tour money list in 2011, his gift for golf was obvious.

Then came 2012. Fleetwood arrived at the South African Open, his final event of the season, in 124th place on the Order of Merit. In other words, something special had to happen. And it did. Shooting a 69 in the last round, Fleetwood finished T-6 and hauled himself up a card-saving 14 places on the money list.

That week, however, was not the most important of that gloomy 2012 season, one on which he missed as many as 15 cuts.

“Everyone talks about South Africa, but for me it wasn’t the turning point of a very frustrating year,” Fleetwood says. “That came in Holland back in September. In the second round of the KLM Open, I got down in two shots from 160 yards on the 16th, then did the same from 115 yards at each of the last two holes. I made the cut on the number, then played really well on the weekend, finished T-17 and won €22,860. Without that, I would have lost my card.”

Perhaps more importantly, Fleetwood learned much about himself during those many weekends off.

“I spent a lot of time sulking,” he admits. “I wasn’t playing great. I just wasn’t ready. My short game was bad. It was the first time I had really lost form. And I didn’t know how to cope with it. So I would go home and sit in my chair and think about what I was doing wrong. I should have been out trying to fix those things. It was mostly short game. I was hitting it OK. But I had lost confidence and the ability to score. And it’s hard to get out of that rut. I would start with three birdies and still shoot two over. I couldn’t do anything right. And as you do when things are not going your way, I missed a bunch of cuts by a shot.”

Still, having glimpsed golf’s dark side for the first time, it didn’t take Fleetwood long to make the most of his narrow escape from a return to the Challenge Tour. His maiden European Tour victory came in August 2013, when he claimed the Johnnie Walker Classic at Gleneagles after a playoff with Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher and Argentina’s Ricardo Gonzalez. It was a huge boost.

Besides his two victories in 2017, Fleetwood has been in the hunt at several big tournaments, including last month’s U.S. Open where he played alongside winner Brooks Koepka and finished T-4. (Photo by Jamie Squire)

“Winning was a real breakthrough,” Fleetwood says. “Once I kept my card, that was a target. Every round I have three little targets. Maybe it is just ‘talk to myself properly’ or ‘stand up straight on the greens.’ One day I might say, ‘Don’t talk to anyone.’ On another I’ll be a lot chattier. Or I might say, ‘smile all the way round.’ Little things. But little things turn into bigger things.

“When I started playing well all I wanted to do was win. Which was a problem. When it became clear I wasn’t going to win, I would get fed up. I played poorly on a few Sundays, finishing 50th because I wasn’t interested in finishing 30th. But I’ve learned not to do that.

“It was such a relief to win. You tell yourself you can do it, but until you do you don’t know for sure. And I found out I can do it by doing what I do, not what others do. The pressure I felt trying to keep my card was actually far greater.”

These days, of course, Fleetwood has loftier goals. A Ryder Cup place in France next year is high on his priority list. But becoming the first Englishman in nearly half a century to lift the claret jug on home soil—Tony Jacklin at Royal Lytham in 1969 was last to do so—would represent the loftiest of them all.

Stuart Franklin/Getty Images

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Equipment tampering controversy raised by European Tour players following Open de France

Golf Digest Middle East — Tue, 04 Jul 2017 05:46:25 +0000

By Joel Beall

A bizarre story is emerging from the European Tour, as players at last week’s Open de France are claiming their equipment was tampered with at Le Golf National outside of Paris.

Bernd Wiesberger first raised the issue, taking to Facebook on Friday to say his driver’s settings — as well as the big sticks of other players — were changed overnight:

It appears it wasn’t an isolated incident, as Duncan Stewart told the U.K.’s Bunkered.com he was also a victim of the sabotage.

“I asked one of the Callaway reps to have a look at my driver because it wasn’t going as well as normal,” Stewart said to Bunkered. “He put it back to what should’ve been neutral and the grip was around the wrong way — and it had only been re-gripped two or three weeks ago.

“I’m not one of those that tweaks my driver every week, and when I saw Bernd’s tweet, it convinced me more that someone had changed it. The more people you speak to, the more it seems to have been going on.”

Players will often leave their clubs at an on-site storage facility during a tournament, making extensive tampering possible. Given the spectrum of adjustability on drivers — along with the fact that not every change is blatantly noticeable — the extent of the sabotage is not known.

When asked for comment, the European Tour cited David Garland, director of operations for the tour and tournament director of the HNA Open de France. “We were made aware of two instances where players thought the settings on their clubs may have been changed,” said Garland. “We therefore reminded all players to check their equipment prior to teeing off.”

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