Fleetwood ready for Open with French title
Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France – Englishman Tommy Fleetwood fired a bogey-free final round of 66 to win the French Open at Le Golf National by one shot on Sunday.
The 26-year-old finished on 12-under-par for the tournament after his five-under closing effort, edging out American Peter Uihlein, whose charge came too late.
It was a third European Tour title for Fleetwood, who finished fourth at the US Open last month.
He will head to the Open Championship, which starts on July 20 in his hometown of Southport, expecting to significantly improve his record of three straight missed cuts.
Fleetwood also took the lead in the European Tour’s Race to Dubai from Masters champion Sergio Garcia.
And on current form, he looks a good bet to qualify for Thomas Bjorn’s European Ryder Cup team to take on the Americans at the same course to the south-west of Paris next year.
Fleetwood, who began the day a stroke behind joint-overnight leaders Peter Uihlein and Alexander Bjoerk, started well with birdies on the second and third holes to take the lead.
The world number 21 added his third birdie of the day on the par-five ninth, before two more at 13 and 14 opened up a three-shot advantage over Uihlein.
“I’m engaged. I’m expecting a baby. My fiancee is my manager. My caddie is my best mate in the world."
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) July 2, 2017
Life is good for @TommyFleetwood1! pic.twitter.com/yx0onNGB5U
He parred his way in to set an imposing clubhouse target.
Uihlein had started poorly in playing the first five holes in two-over-par, but a run of three birdies in four holes from the 11th gave him an outside chance of a second European Tour title.
He poured in another on the 17th to head down the difficult last needing a birdie to force a playoff, but failed to hole out from the greenside bunker.
Sweden’s Bjoerk rattled in a long birdie putt on the final green to grab one of the three Open Championship places on offer.
With the top three finishers in the top 10 who were not yet exempt given invitations to play in the years’ third major tournament, Uihlein and Frenchman Mike Lorenzo-Vera joined Bjoerk in booking their spots for Royal Birkdale.
Dane Thorbjorn Olesen carded eight birdies in a six-under-par final round of 65 to catapult himself into a share of third place with Lorenzo-Vera and Bjoerk.
AFP