The Open de France is one of the oldest and most prestigious events on the DP World Tour, an event that traces its roots back to 1906 and has been a European Tour/DP World Tour event since 1972.
Walter Hagen, Bobby Locke, Byron Nelson, Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo and Tommy Fleetwood highlight the star-studded list of champions.
Key Stats/Skill Set Required
- Driving Accuracy
- GIR
- Strokes Gained: Approach
- Par 5 Scoring
- Bogey Avoidance
The Open de France has been played at the famed Le Golf National since 2001 but this year heads to Golf de Saint-Nom-La-Breteche just west of Paris.
The course last hosted this event in 1982 and was last seen on the DP World Tour in 2003 so there is not a lot of exposed form.
The course is tree-lined though so prizes accuracy over power while it is a classic second-shot course that will reward a strong approach game.
The three Par 5s are gettable so scoring on them will be key.
Key Correlation Tournaments
- Nil
BEST BET
JORDAN SMITH
Englishman Jordan Smith does not win out of turn but won’t get a better chance to add a big tournament to his resume than this week with so many big names away on Ryder Cup duty.
Smith ranks fifth in GIR, ninth in Bogey Avoidance and 12th in Driving Accuracy.
He absolutely loves this tournament with four Top 21 finishes in his last five starts including a runner-up finish in 2023.
BEST VALUE
RYAN FOX
Ryan Fox has enjoyed a career year on the PGA Tour this season with two wins including the Canadian Open.
He also finished Top 30 in two of the three majors he competed in, not to mention has an elite iron game and that is central to success here.
He ranks seventh in Strokes Gained: Approach on the DP World Tour this season and has two Top 20 finishes from five starts in the Open de France.
JOHN PARRY
John Parry is having a super season and can put up another big tournament here in France. He won in Mauritius and since has posted seven more Top 25 finishes.
The Englishman ranks second in Strokes Gained: Approach, 13th in GIR and 13th in Bogey Avoidance.
He has the iron game to really thrive on this course.
BEST ROUGHIES
JOOST LUITEN
Veteran Dutchman Joost Luiten has not won in a long time but is playing consistent golf and with his profile can feature here at a price with six Top 16 finishes in his last 12 starts.
Ranks fifth in Strokes Gained: Approach, sixth in Driving Accuracy, ninth in GIR and 12th in Bogey Avoidance.
He has finished Top 18 in three of his last five Open de Frances.
FRANCESCA LAPORTA
Italian Francesca Laporta is an underrated type who profiles nicely again this week after finishing T-24 in the BMW PGA Championship for us last weekend.
He ranks 15th in Bogey Avoidance and 15th in Driving Accuracy.
He has finished Top 25 in five of his last 11 events.
TOP FRENCH
ADRIEN SADDIER
Saddier is clearly the pick of the locals given his outstanding recent form that has seen him post back-to-back Top 5 finishes including losing in a playoff at the BMW PGA Championship.
Finished Top 18 in his last two home national opens.
TOP OCEANIA
RYAN FOX
There will be eight line up from Oceania but one of the top selections Ryan Fox stands out.
The $4 on offer seems insanely good.