Dan Bradbury picked a fantastic time to produce his first flawless round of the week at Le Golf National as the Englishman clinched the Open de France by one shot on Sunday.
While the Open de France did not boast the most star-studded field this week, Le Golf National did provide the stage for another fantastic event following the Olympic Games earlier this year.
At one stage during the final round just outside Paris, 11 players were tied for the lead before Dan Bradbury emerged as the man to take the title and fire himself all the way from 98th to inside the top 30 in the Race To Dubai standings on the DP World Tour.
Bradbury made three birdies in his final five holes to hold off the likes of Thorbjorn Olesen and Sam Bairstow. Of course, every player would have known just how imperative it was to remain focused until the final putt had dropped.
Dan Bradbury says he hates one shot around Le Golf National after his Open de France win
The 18th hole at Le Golf National played as the toughest on the course, measuring at 464 yards on Sunday. And there is water all the way down the left-hand side of the fairway, as well as surrounding the green.
Bradbury would have breathed a sigh of relief after pulling his tee shot towards the water. Thankfully, the softer conditions ensured that it remained in the fairway and left him with just under 200 yards to the pin. He would indeed find the putting surface and make a good two-putt to take the clubhouse lead. A short time later, he was confirmed as the champion.
Speaking to Sky Sports (broadcast on 13/10; 16:41), the Yorkshireman explained what he was thinking ahead of that approach as he also shared just how uncomfortable he found himself on the tee.
“Just hit the green. If you hit the green and three putt, fine. But just hit it on grass,” he said.
“That tee shot, I’ve not liked it. Yesterday was the first time I’ve hit the fairway. I don’t know, something about that tee shot I hate, so getting it in play was the first thing. Second shot, a bit easier for me, just trying to fade one. If it doesn’t fade, fine, but yeah, there was a big wait on the tee and I did not like that, wasn’t comfy.”
A gem on the DP World Tour
In fairness to Bradbury, he played the 18th in one over par over the course of the week. That is not a disaster by any means; with Olesen, for example, making a double bogey and three pars during the tournament. There were less than a handful of birdies on the last on Sunday. Two, to be exact.
It is certainly incredibly intimidating, even with the amount of rain the course dealt with ahead of the tournament. Anything that does start turning left is likely to find the hazard and leave a player fighting desperately to save bogey. And it does not get too much easier if a player goes right, as Bradbury found out on Thursday.
It is the perfect matchplay hole – which makes the fact that it did not feature too often during the 2018 Ryder Cup all the more frustrating. And it is surely one of the best finishing holes anywhere on the DP World Tour.
Thankfully for Bradbury, there was no late drama on the 72nd hole for him as he secured a second DP World Tour title.
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