In Saint-Quentin en Yvelines,
To discover
The world ranking of the best golf players
If the regulars of the National Golf had worried about the low attendance of the Cazoo Open de France during the week, the boss of the DP World Tour Keith Pelley, passing through Saint-Quentin en Yvelines on Sunday on returning from the United States where he had attended the Presidents Cup, was able to reassure himself a little bit on Sunday.
Under an autumn sun worthy of that of the 2018 Ryder Cup, the French public had responded.
Coming as neighbors to support Antoine Rozner, the Sky and White jerseys of the Racing Club de France bloomed copiously on the trampled rough of the Albatross in the afternoon.
Moustached speaker
Responding at 1 p.m. sharp to the call of mustachioed announcer Alastair Scott, leader Rasmus Højgaard struck his first ball to loud applause, accompanied by Belgian Thomas Pieters and South African George Coetzee.
These three announced a good tussle in the last part.
While in front of them, the French Paul Barjon and Antoine Rozner had already gone on the hunt with a German out of the Challenge Tour, Yannick Paul, 194th in the world.
Read alsoThe complete leaderboard of the French Open 2022
The day before, during the "
Moving Day
" on Saturday, the Dane - already a triple winner on the European tour at the age of 21 - had experienced a less good shot from the par 3 of hole n°2.
While he had been walking on water for two days – with the course record (62) equaled on Thursday – Rasmus Højgaard had experienced a real shipwreck signing a fivefold bogey (8) with three balls in the water!
There, as a wink, Højgaard took the time to greet the public after landing his ball safely on the green from the blue tee.
Read alsoOpen de France: the sinking of leader Rasmus Højgaard on hole n°2 of the Albatross
There is always something going on with Paul Barjon.
The Frenchman born in New Caledonia and now exiled in the United States loves attacking golf.
Landed this week in the Yvelines without any particular pressure – only a victory interested him to potentially obtain a DP World Tour membership card – Barjon, who left at 12:49 p.m., tried to ensure the suspense between mass and vespers.
He, who was two strokes behind at the start of the day, announced the color from hole n°3 with an exit from the bunker for eagle!
He thus joined Rasmus Højgaard at the top of the leaderboard, the Dane imitating him a few minutes later in the same place with a chip in the hole!
Charge
A few games ahead, it was without counting the charge of Guido Migliozzi, 169th in the world ranking and 100th in Europe at the age of 25.
With eight birdies from holes 6 to 15, the Italian was at -15 without anyone having imagined him capable of coming back from behind for the victory.
On hole n°18 and under the eyes of the French Victor Pérez in the same part, the Italian struck an extraordinary 2nd iron shot in fade from about 170 meters, which rolled straight towards the flag before brushing the hole and stop at 1.30 meters.
He thus signed his ninth birdie of the game, but also the first of the tournament on this green, no player having managed to master this par 4 like him this year.
Stronger, Migliozzi sealed the score of 62, equaling the tournament record until
then owned by Rasmus Højgaard (2022), Eduardo Romero (2005) and Martin Kaymer (2009).
The native of Vicenza (Veneto) signed his third victory on the European Tour.
Cruel outcome for Rasmus Højgaard (-15), in the lead since the start of the tournament, who had to bow to the audacity and success of Migliozzi (-16 in total).
“Rasmus is an extraordinary player,
commented the Italian in the press room after his victory.
He is young and has enormous talent.
I played with him again lately.
All I can say is he opened a door on round 3 with his quintuple bogey on hole 2, and I got sucked into it."
“A little regret”
for Barjon
Frenchman Paul Barjon, Belgian Thomas Pieters and South African George Coetzee (-11), finished joint third on the podium.
"There is obviously a little regret
," noted the New Caledonian exiled in the United States.
It was a fairly average day, especially in terms of putting.
The rest of the game worked.
I wanted to win.
After an eagle of 3, I put myself in the race even if the others started well too.
He missed a few birdies on the return to give me a chance.
The results remain very positive.
I always try to win once a year.
I didn't go very far.
I gave myself a chance on Sunday.
It was the objective of the week
”.
“Hats off to Guido Migliozzi.
It's something every player dreams of: to score once in his career like he did and wait quite calmly in front of the TV.
Paul Barjon
And to add about the winner with panache:
“It was a much tougher course this Sunday.
Hats off to Guido Migliozzi.
It's something every player dreams of: scoring once in his career as he did and waiting quite calmly in front of the TV.
It's something that I would like one day.
»
In the tricolor clan, Antoine Rozner (6th) concluded his first Open de France with a final card of 74, for a total score of -6.
An overall honorable performance for the Parisian, one shot ahead of Julien Brun (-5), author of two 70s over the weekend.
As for Victor Pérez (-2), his last missed lap (76, +5) relegated him in the company of Mathieu Pavon to 30th place in the standings.
Pierre Pineau (+1), Mathieu Decottignies-Lafon (+3), Adrien Saddier (+4) and Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (+9) were further behind.
Read alsoOpen de France: the new tricolor without complex on the fairways of the Albatross
The disappointments of some professionals should not make us forget the good attitudes of national amateurs.
Starting with the performance of Julien Sale (-3 in total), leader of the young class ahead of the trio made up of Oihan Guillamoundéguy, Martin Couvra and Tom Vaillant, in par.
“I'm very proud of what I did this week,
breathed Oihan Guillamoundéguy.
The DP World Tour is another planet in terms of organization and audience.
It's amazing to have the opportunity to play a tournament like this.
I learned a lot and I will come back stronger on my next professional Tour tournament.
»
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/EXJQILQR5QI7OMVRTERD7AEZAU.jpg)