The DP World Tour continues on with its ‘Back 9’ swing with a stop at the 2024 Olympic Games’ venue, Le Golf National, in this week’s FedEx Open de France.
Including this week, there are just three weeks remaining until the DP World Tour’s end-of-the-season play-offs.
This week’s installment of the FedEx Open De France serves as its 106th playing, making it the longest standing national open in Continental Europe. The event wasn’t played in the war years and was not played in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.
France’s own Arnaud Massy won the first two editions of this event in both 1906 and 1907.
The FedEx Open De France has been a part of the DP World Tour since its inception as well.
The Field
Recently on the DP World Tour, we’ve seen a multitude of both PGA Tour and LIV Golf stars teeing it up. That won’t be the case this week as we return to more of a traditional DP World Tour field.
BMW PGA Championship winner Billy Horschel will be one of the few PGA Tour regulars to tee it up in France this week however, as he opens as the odds-on-favorite to win.
Joining him will be the likes of hometown favorite Victor Perez along with Matt Wallace, Justin Rose, Thomas Detry, Matthieu Pavon and Thorbjorn Olesen as PGA Tour regulars seeking victory this week.
As the DP World Tour Play-offs are quickly approaching, the mainstays of the DP World Tour will be out this week seeking coveted points as well.
Notable names teeing it up this week include Rasmus Hojgaard, Thriston Lawrence, Niklas Norgaard, Jordan Smith, Tom McKibbin, Laurie Canter and Sebastian Soderberg.
Of course, there will be a heavy French presence this week as they seek victory on home soil for the first time since 2011. Joining the aforementioned Perez is recent DP World Tour winner Frederic Lacroix along with Romain Langasque, Antoine Rozner, Julien Guerrier and Tom Vaillant.
Ryo Hisatsune is the defending champion of this event but will not be back this week to defend his title.
Former winners of this event teeing it up this week include Guido Migliozzi (2022,) Nicolas Colsaerts (2019,) Bernd Wiesberger (2015) and Marcell Siem (2012.)
The Course
The Le Golf National in Paris, France has been the host of the FedEx Open De France since 1991, outside of 1999 and 2001
It plays as a Par 71 at 7,247 yards.
Le Golf National was opened in 1990 and quickly established itself as one of the greatest venues in the world of golf. The track is known for providing an extremely demanding test.
It was originally designed by Hubert Chesneau and Robert Van Hagge. The course underwent some significant changes prior to the 2016 edition of the FedEx Open de France in preparation for the hosting of the 2018 Ryder Cup.
It was also the host of the 2024 Olympic Games that saw Scottie Scheffler claim the gold medal.
The Le Golf National is a fairly exposed course that has a links-style feel to it.
The fairways are average in width and feature undulations.
The greens are bentgrass and are average in size as well. These bentgrass greens run at around 12 on the stimpmeter.
Water is in play on holes one, two, 13, 15, 16 and 18 as well.
Finding the fairways here at Le Golf National is more important than bombing the ball off the tee. The rough featured this week is slightly penal as well.
Off-the-tee metrics aren’t the most important here, as it is what golfers do after their tee shots that will make-or-break it at this venue.
Finding these average-sized greens in regulation is the key to victory at Le Golf National. If greens are to be missed, golfers who are above-average in scrambling will see a leg up.
Migliozzi’s -16 was the lowest winning score of any FedEx Open De France since 2000. Typically, a winning score in the low teens or even high single-digits has been enough.
In all, the course demands patience.
The Weather
As of the time of writing this, Thursday calls for the greatest chance of precipitation at 55-percent. Saturday is also calling for a 25-percent chance. Friday and Sunday are both calling for just a zero-percent chance. Temperatures will range between 51-degrees and 55-degrees across the four days as well. Along with the chance of rain on Thursday, winds are set for 16 miles-per-hour. From there, the winds will die down to five-or-six miles-per-hour from Friday through Sunday. As it sits, Thursday will be the biggest test weather wise as the rest of the week appears to be rather clear.
Key Stats
Strokes Gained: Approach (SG: APP)
Greens in Regulation Percentage (GIR%)
Scrambling
Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (SG: OTT) / Driving Accuracy
Strokes Gained: Putting (SG: PUTT)
Par 4 Average Scoring
Bogey Avoidance
Strokes Gained: Around the Green (SG: ATG)
Betting Card
Jordan Smith (+2800)
At this point, you can just assume I’m going to be on Smith each and every week. We’re not getting the odds on him that we’ve seen as of late with the PGA Tour and LIV Golf Tour stars playing on the DP World Tour, but we’re still getting a playable number. Smith is currently second on Tour in GIR%, ninth in bogey avoidance, 13th in SG: OTT, 36th in par four average scoring, 37th in SG: APP, 56th in scrambling, 80th in SG: ATG and 103rd in SG: PUTT. Smith placed T35th last week at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship but prior to that placed 18th or better in four consecutive events. He placed T18th at the BMW PGA Championship, T7th at the Amgen Irish Open, T12th at the Omega European Masters and T12th at the Betfred British Masters. Each of those four results came in fields that included a multitude of PGA Tour and LIV Golf Tour regulars. Additionally, Smith placed T2nd here a year ago and seventh in 2022.
Matteo Manassero (+4500)
We last saw Manassero at the Open de Espana where he missed the cut but prior to that placed T4th at the BMW PGA Championship and third at the Amgen Irish Open. He also placed T6th at the Betfred British Masters. Manassero represented Italy at this same golf course at The Olympic Games where he also placed T18th. He is currently seventh on Tour in SG: APP, 11th in GIR%, 12th in SG: ATG, 33rd in both par four average scoring and bogey avoidance, 65th in scrambling, 90th in both driving accuracy and SG: PUTT and 145th in SG: OTT. The off-the-tee metrics do worry me a bit but he’s right around Tour average in terms of driving accuracy. We can hope he comes into this week with a patient mindset and allow his elite approach game to carry him.
Yannik Paul (+5000)
Last season, Paul placed T6th here at this event and also placed T8th in 2022. Now, this season has not been up to the standard of which we’d expect out of Paul, but he has strung together some quality finishes as of late. He placed T19th at last week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, T24th at the Open de Espana and T18th at the BMW PGA Championship. Paul is currently eighth on Tour in GIR%, 21st in bogey avoidance, 34th in SG: APP, 67th in par four average scoring, 74th in scrambling, 76th in SG: PUTT, 80th in driving accuracy, 86th in SG: OTT and 95th in SG: ATG.
Adrian Otaegui (+7500)
Otaegui is currently first on the entire DP World Tour in driving accuracy. He is also 13th in SG: ATG, 19th in SG: APP, 35th in GIR%, 44th in scrambling, 45th in bogey avoidance, 53rd in par four average scoring, 122nd in SG: OTT and 141st in SG: PUTT. Otaegui has made four consecutive cuts coming into this week, highlighted by a T18th at the BMW PGA Championship and T17th at the Amgen Irish Open. He also placed T16th here a season ago and T13th in 2022.
Tom Vaillant (+9000)
We of course have to roll out at least one Frenchman on the card this week and that comes in the form of Vaillant. He didn’t play in this event a season ago but placed T45th back in 2022. The 22 year-old Vaillant is fresh off a T7th at last week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and also placed T18th at the Open de Espana. He also placed 17th at the Betfred British Masters as of late. On the DP World Tour he is currently 27th in par four average scoring, 31st in scrambling, 43rd in bogey avoidance, 48th in SG: ATG, 50th in driving accuracy, 55th in SG: OTT, 60th in SG: PUTT, 66th in GIR% and 124th in SG: APP.
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