Fantasy Golf: Open de France
Published: Last updated:
The European Tour travels to Paris this week for the Alstom Open de France at Le Golf National. Graeme McDowell will be looking to defend the title he won here last year on the course that will host the 2018 Ryder Cup.
Last week’s BMW International Open saw Fabrizio Zanotti claim his first victory on the European tour after a fascinating four-way play-off that also included Henrik Stenson, Rafa Cabrera-Bello and Gregory Havret. If this week can match or even better that drama, we’re in for a treat!
With a purse of €3 million, the Open de France is a great chance for players to make significant progress in the Race to Dubai and with the chance to also accrue lots of Ryder Cup points, the event always attracts big names.
G-Mac and US Open Champ Martkin Kaymer head up a field that also includes the likes of Thomas Björn and home favourite Victor Dubuisson. The event has an illustrious past as well, with Seve, Faldo, Norman and Monty all winning here.
Le Golf National is a notoriously tricky course to score on. Finding fairways is vitally important in order to give yourself a fighting chance to avoid the signature (and numerous) water hazards that protect many of the greens.
This week, TG is looking to build on our success at the BMW International where we racked up over 80 points! Here’s who we’ve gone for this week…
Graeme McDowell – £2.8 million
A fairly obvious pick really. G-Mac won here last year by 4 shots so obviously likes the course, and the linksy-feel of the course should suit him. A T-6 finish at the Irish Open, which he could easily have won, shows he’s in fine fettle heading in to this week.
Thomas Björn – £1.9 million
Björn is currently leading the Race to Dubai after a great season this far. He finished T-8 at The Masters, T3 at Wentworth, T-15 at the Nordea Masters and his recent form has been pretty good too, finishing T-8 last week at Gut Lärchenhof. Björn has good form at Le Golf National too, finishing T-8 last year.
Romain Wattel – £1 million
Not the obvious Frenchman to pick, but we have faith! Wattel is fun to watch, but five top-30s in his last five starts would suggest that he’s much more than just an entertainer. In this event last year he holed everything and if he can combine his improved game with a similarly hot putter, he’s in with a good shout this time around.
Jamie Donaldson – £1.8 million
Donaldson looked good last week, finishing T-5 in Germany, missing out on the play-off by a single stroke. The Welshman has played this track more times than he cares to remember and he finished T-6 here last year. Good form combined with good memories of this event should stand Donaldson in good stead.
Rafael Cabrera-Bello – £1.2 million
The Spaniard has been ultra-consistent this year! So far this season he’s had six top-10’s in only 13 starts and he narrowly missed out in victory at last week’s BMW International Open, losing in the play-off.
Thongchai Jaidee – £1.4 million
Some may see this as a surprise, but Thongchai has quietly been going about his business and his form’s been good this year, securing his fifth European Tour title at the Nordea Masters last month. He’s had five top-10s this season so far on the European Tour and he’s also yet to miss a cut this season.
