One of the strongest fields on the European Tour this year has assembled at Le Golf National, for the 97th staging of the Alstom Open de France. It is a Championship that dates all the way back to 1906, which makes it the oldest National Open on Continental Europe, but it is also the richest, with a prize fund of €3,000,000.
With The Open Championship a mere fortnight away, this lucrative prize fund, in addition to generous appearance fees, as enticed many of the game’s greatest players to make the trip to Paris. They will be hoping to add themselves to one of the most impressive roll of honours on the European Tour; with a total of 19 major champions included in the list winners of this event.
Walter Hagen, Henry Cotton, Byron Nelson, Bobby Locke, Greg Norman, Sandy Lyle, Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, Nick Faldo, Jose Maria Olazabal and Colin Montgomerie are all former champions of France’s National Open. All of them members of the World Golf Hall of Fame, and that resume of former winners illustrate the prestige of this event that has been a permanent part of the European Tour since its inaugural season in 1972.
Last year, it was Marcel Siem who won the 96th Open de France. The charismatic German followed in the footsteps of illustrates compatriots Bernhard Langer and Martin Kaymer with victory twelve months ago. And he arrives at Le Golf National in an excited mood at the prospect of his title defence.
The 32-year-old from Mettmann described his victory last year, and the feelings of returning to the venue of his greatest triumph to date: “It was fantastic - last year when I left, it was super sunny and great weather,” Siem recalled. “I arrived here and it was not the best weather, but straightaway, you feel the atmosphere again and all the memories from last year.”
“Winning a tournament is always nice, but I think to win this one, and especially Raphaël Jacquelin, Stenson contending.
“So there was a lot of pressure, very intense, and when you have the stadium around the 18th with all the spectators, it's very special. It's very cool.
“It's a fantastic field and I think they did a great job to get this field, and a lot of big guns playing this week, and just try to compete against them and try to lift the trophy again.”
A fantastic field indeed, and it is one that includes the likes of Matt Kuchar, Luke Donald, Matteo Manassero, Graeme McDowell and Ian Poulter. Martin Kaymer, the champion of 2009 is also on site, and he reflected on the challenge of playing the intense finishing holes of the revered Le Golf National, which is hosting the Open de France for the 21st occasion.
“It’s a very exciting finish, but a very fair golf course,” said Kaymer. “Therefore it’s very exciting for the spectators and for us players – it’s never over.”
With water a significant threat in the closing stretch, no lead is ever safe on Sunday, with thousands of spectators looking on from the impressive amphitheatre of elevations and banks that radiates around this section of the course. Such an intense Coliseum like finish was always considered perfect for the Ryder Cup, which will be staged at Le Golf National in 2018.
The Ryder Cup in Paris may be five years away, but it still received significant attention this week, as many of Europe’s stars of Medinah commented on its potential as a venue for sport’s biggest biennial event.
Ian Poulter, a hero of recent Ryder Cups, revealed himself to be a huge fan of the course, and he reflected on the significant of the closing stretch: We have a great, great finish here and you are going to have to step up and deliver down those last four holes. It’s going to create a lot of drama.”
Playing member of the last three European Ryder Cup Teams, Graeme McDowell also commented: “I think it’s going to be a great Ryder Cup venue – especially the last four holes here in probably one of the best natural amphitheatres in world golf – and you can really imagine 40 or 50,000 people on the hills there.”
However, that’s all to look forward to at the end of the decade. Le Golf National is certain to provide a spellbinding chapter into the history of the Ryder Cup, but another paragraph in the long history of the Open de France will be inscribed this week.
It’s a course that Martin Kaymer has described as “one of the best courses we have in Europe”. Le Golf National is a truly a gem of European Golf, and the Open de France is one of its greatest events. With a long and storied history, dating before the establishment of the Masters Tournament and PGA Championship, France’s National Open is always a prospect to be savoured.
This week, the 97th edition, will be no exception. il sera bon.