The DP World Tour heads to Le Golf National in Paris for the 2024 edition of the Open de France. Damien Kayat previews.
2024 DP World Tour
Open de France
Le Golf National
10 – 13 October 2024
Combustible Englishman Tyrell Hatton created a slice of history last week, becoming the first man to win the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on three occasions.
He equalled the course record on Saturday, firing an incredible 61 to take a one-shot lead into Sunday’s final round. He looked like he was coasting on Sunday, making four birdies in his first eleven holes to establish a three-stroke lead.
But Hatton threatened to implode, double bogeying the 13th and bogeying the 14th to hand Nicolas Colsaerts a share of the lead. But the temperamental Englishman retained his composure, making a birdie at the last to ensure a one-shot victory. The DP World Tour now moves to France for the oldest national golfing event in continental Europe: the Open de France.
Open de France
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 doesn’t have the same prestige as it once did. It was significantly diminished last year, taking place a week before the Ryder Cup.
This year’s event lacks the star power of last week’s links extravaganza. But it does happen to take place at one of the most iconic courses in the current European rotation: Le Golf National.
Le Golf National
Designed by Hubert Chesneau and Robert Van Hagge, Le Golf National opened back in 1990. It is a stadium-style course that underwent a dramatic facelift on the eve of the 2018 Ryder Cup. It is an exposed, linksy layout that stymied the US bomb squad in 2018.
Phil Mickelson famously lamented the fact that wayward drives were being punished. Moli-Wood- Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood- really set the blueprint for success around Le Golf National: hit fairways and find greens in regulation.
Ten of the last 17 winners have ranked inside the top 15 for GIR. Also, the top scrambler has placed at Le Golf National in 15 of the last 18 tournaments. The Bentgrass greens run at around 12 on the stimp and require some real finesse.
This is almost a throwback to the days of precision-based golf and it should make for fascinating viewing.
Contenders
As I noted earlier, this week’s field is significantly weaker than last week’s. Recent BMW PGA Championship winner Billy Horschel makes a sensible favourite. He did miss the cut last week, but his recent form has been too good to ignore.
Irish Open champ Rasmus Hojgaard also missed the 54-hole cut last week. But the Dane has a brilliant record here, finishing runner-up in 2022 and 4th last year. He clearly has an affinity for this course and he will fancy his chances in this depleted field.
Elsewhere, the likes of Matt Wallace and Thirston Lawrence will look to build on solid recent form.
Past Winners
2023: Ryo Hisatsune (-14)
2022: Guido Migliozzi (-16)
2021: event cancelled
2020: event cancelled
2019: Nicolas Colsaerts (-12)
2018: Alex Noren (-7)
To Win Outright:
Billy Horschel 14/1 | Matt Wallace 16/1 | Rasmus Hojgaard 16/1 | Victor Perez 18/1 | Thriston Lawrence 18/1
Value Bets
Frederic Lacroix – To Win 45/1 | To Place 19/2
I think that Frederic Lacroix has a decent shot at becoming the first home winner of this event since Thomas Levet in 2011. This is only Lacroix’s 2nd full season on tour: he just missed out on securing playing privileges in 2022.
He recorded three top 5’s in his first four starts of the season. He failed to maintain that consistency but recently rediscovered some form, finishing 3rd at the Czech Masters five starts ago.
He then nabbed his maiden tour title in the very next event, beating Lucas Bjerregard and Romain Langasque by four strokes at the Danish Championship. He is one of the straightest big-hitters on tour and he could be primed to contend this week.
Andy Sullivan – To Win 66/1 | To Place 14/1
This must be one of the best prices I have seen in some time. Multiple DP Word Tour champion Andy Sullivan hasn’t exactly been lighting it up this season.
But he has proven to be an extremely efficient operator at Le Golf National (which has proven to be a course that rewards familiarity). Sullivan withdrew mid-tournament in 2022, but his course form before that read 23-21-13-5-6-26.
His accuracy from the tee has improved dramatically this season (he currently sits 7th in the DP World Tour’s Driving Accuracy standings). He managed to finish T16 last season (despite being ranked outside the top 50 on tour for driving accuracy).
The Man to Beat – Thirston Lawrence – To Win 18/1 | To Place 39/10
The burly South African had a disappointing outing at the links, ultimately settling for a T54 finish. But Lawrence has been a beacon of consistency this season and I can easily see him bouncing back this week.
Lest we forget, this is a man who has finished runner-up in five DP World Tour events this year. He also had a real shot of winning the Open Championship, ultimately settling for a T4 finish.
He has been in excellent recent form, finishing solo 2nd at the British Masters and T2 at the BMW PGA Championship (two of his last five events). He tops the DP World Tour putting stats and I think he could tame these quick greens (he finished T20 here back in 2020).