Tournament: FedEx Open de France
Race to Dubai: Tournament 40 of 44
Back 9: Tournament 7 of 9
Venue: Le Golf National, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France
Prize Fund: US$3,250,000
Hashtag: #FedExOpenDeFrance #DPWT
Tournament Preview
Matthieu Pavon and Victor Perez can’t wait to play in front of home crowds for the second time this year as they return to the FedEx Open de France, the oldest national open in Continental Europe.
The pair represented France at the Paris Olympics in August, also held on the Albatros Course at Le Golf National, with Perez carding a final round of 63 to finish just shy of the podium in fourth place.
Pavon made history earlier this year as the first French winner on the PGA TOUR since 1907, when he claimed the Farmers Insurance Open, and arrives at Le Golf National as the highest ranked Frenchman on the Official World Golf Ranking, currently 26th.
They spearhead a contingent of 19 French players competing in the 106th edition of their home open, with David Ravetto and Frederic Lacroix, both first-time winners this season, also teeing it up. Grégory Havret will make his 23rd and final appearance in his national open as he plans on retiring after this week after his 560th DP World Tour start.
Joining them in the field this week are Major Champions Francesco Molinari, Justin Rose and Danny Willett, and recent BMW PGA Championship winner Billy Horschel.
Rose and Molinari were members of the victorious European Ryder Cup side at Le Golf National in 2018, when Molinari famously won all five of his matches and also secured the winning point for his side.
Player Quotes
Matthieu Pavon: “It’s always good to come back. Last time I was here was for an unforgettable moment, the Olympics. So really happy to be here and to see the fans this week and play my National Open is always amazing.
“(Golf is) getting bigger (in France), which is nice. We love the game, so any time we can see it growing here in France, it’s amazing. I mean, I think playing well in America with Victor Perez really helped and seeing the guys win on tour this year, everybody is doing great this year and it’s good to see and I’m sure in France it inspires people.”
Victor Perez: “Very happy to be back. Obviously different than it was a couple months ago, and definitely weird to kind of come back to a place because usually you only go to the location once a year. A place I’m obviously very familiar with, different setup, but should be a fun week.
“I think we have seen it this year with a lot of great results, a lot of French guys knocking on the door right now, seven players qualifying for DP World finals and hopefully more to come with good results. It shows with Matt (Pavon) winning on the PGA TOUR earlier in the year. I think everybody is just kind of like climbing step after step and hoping for more, and I think it’s great to see more and more French players competing and winning which is obviously the point of this whole thing.”
Billy Horschel: “It’s a great golf course. I love the golf course. It’s one of the reasons I came back again this year, and I think the scoring is going to be really good because of the soft conditions.
“The greens are looking pure. They are rolling pure, and you’re going to have soft conditions. So guys are going to be going at it. I think this course is going to lend itself to possibly some low scores depending on how the wind is. If the wind gets up, it’s a little bit more challenging but if it’s not, there’s going to be some low scores this week.”Justin Rose: “It’s a great golf course. It’s in great shape. It’s such a shame, obviously it’s going to get a deluge. Obviously it’s miserable right now, and I think it’s going to get heavier as the day goes on.
“Hopefully the course can handle it and tomorrow is not too sloppy out here because it really is in good shape.
“Obviously we saw the Olympics here earlier in the year. This golf course is made for great events. Excited to be back from that point of view, and obviously FedEx stepping up, and it feels like it’s got good energy, this tournament.”
