Upcoming Ryder Cup vice-captain Alex Noren put the playing team to shame last week, besting the field to claim a 2nd Wentworth title.
2025 DP World Tour
Open de France
Golf de Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche, Paris
18th-21st September
The metronomic Swede was made to toil in torrential rain on Sunday, ultimately finishing level with Adrien Saddier (three shots clear of the field). Noren won the title on the first playoff hole, exquisitely playing out of the rough to set up the title-winning birdie. Noren- who has now won twice in his last three starts- may have entered Luke Donald’s Ryder Cup reckoning if the decision had been delayed by two weeks. The DP World Tour travels to France this week for the oldest national golfing event in continental Europe: the Open de France. This year’s event is somewhat compromised by the fact that all the golfing oxygen is being sucked up (rightfully) by next week’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black.
This event was first staged in 1907 and was won by Frenchman Arnaud Massey, who would go on to make it back-to-back titles in 1908. Massey actually won an impressive double in 1907, securing both the Open de France and Open Championship titles. The Open de France has been a DP World Tour institution for over 50 years. But it has lost a fair amount of prestige in recent seasons, relegated to the pre-Ryder Cup spot back in 2023. Last year’s event came in the immediate aftermath of a star-studded Alfred Dunhill Links and this year’s event will once again be the Ryder Cup precursor. Let’s hope that the event rediscovers some of its luster in the years to come. Usual host venue Le Golf National will be unavailable this year, with the 2018 Ryder Cup venue enjoying some more upkeep. The event remains in Paris, moving to Golf de Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche for the first time since 1982, when Seve Ballesteros collected the 2nd of his four Open de France titles.
It will be slightly odd seeing this event played anywhere else than Le Golf National: the 2018 Ryder Cup venue has hosted every single renewal since 2001. Designed by Fred Hawtree and opened in 1959, Golf de Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche is a classical parkland par-71 that clocks in at a little under 7,000 yards. It has hosted a few French Opens and also hosted the now defunct Trophée Lancôme between 1970 and 2003. This will be the latest in a series of tree-lined DP World Tour tracks (see the Belfry, K Club and Wentworth). To be fair, these fairways are quite wide and driving accuracy probably won’t be of vital importance. There are three gettable par 5’s and four sub-400 yard par 4’s. This very much looks like a 2nd shot course, with dramatically sloping bentgrass greens looking to punish errant approach shots (a fact only exacerbated by plentiful greenside bunkering). I would look for strong approach players who have thrived in recent tee-lined events.
There will obviously be a huge drop in field-quality as we build up to next week’s much-anticipated Ryder Cup. Having said that, there will be no fewer than ten top-100 players in Paris this week, with the US PGA Tour taking a brief hiatus in the coming weeks. Canadian Corey Conners and up-and-coming Englishman Harry Hall are fighting for supremacy atop the markets. Ryan Fox, Min Woo Lee and Thomas Detry are the other top-50 players in attendance this week. Adrien Saddier will look to bounce back after last week’s playoff defeat while the likes of Jordan Smith and Kristoffer Reifer will look to continue their consistent good form.
Past Winners
2024: Dan Bradbury (-16)
2023: Ryo Hisatsune (-14)
2022: Guido Migliozzi (-16)
2021: event cancelled
2020: event cancelled
2019: Nicolas Colsaerts (-12)
Betting Favourites (To Win): Harry Hall (11/1), Corey Conners (11/1), Min Woo Lee (22/1), Adrien Saddier (22/1), Jordan Smith (22/1)
Value Bets
Martin Couvra- To Win (40/1)
22-year-old Frenchman Martin Couvra has enjoyed a wonderful rookie season on tour. Couvra won his maiden title in Turkey (following a series of top-five finishes in Bahrain, Qatar and China). He finished runner-up to compatriot Saddier at the Italian Open before experiencing a bit of a mid-season lull (he was cut in five of six events leading into last week’s BMW PGA Championship). Currently ranked 10th in the Race to Dubai standings, Couvra will be looking for a strong end to the season as he aims to secure a PGA Tour card. Couvra looked vastly improved last week, finishing in a tie for 13th in a star-studded field. He ranks 9th for SG: Approach this year and should be a factor this week.
Ewen Ferguoson- To Win (45/1)
Three-time DP World Tour winner Ewen Ferguson is a streaky customer who is fresh off an encouraging T5 finish at Wentworth (where he would have finished higher if he hadn’t inexplicably bogeyed the last). The Scot has won his last two DP World Tour events at tree-lined tracks. He almost won the Soudal Open earlier this year, losing in a three-man playoff at another tree-lined track (Rinkvin). He has some unfinished history in this event, tied for the lead going into the final round two years ago before disastrously finding water on the 1st and 2nd holes.
The Man to Beat- Kristoffer Reitan- To Win (28/1)
Norwegian Kristoffer Reitan has enjoyed a sensational campaign, winning a maiden tour title at the Soudal Open and picking up a further five top-6 finishes. He has finished in the top 35 in 13 of his last 15 starts (though he did miss the cut at the recent Irish Open). He has been uber-consistent this year and should thrive in what is a weakened field. Let’s just hope that the allure of a PGA Tour card doesn’t affect his nerves.
