The French Open is an official event of the PGA European Tour of the European Tour (1re division) since its creation in 1972. It is contested every year towards the end of June between theAmerican Open and British Open on the Albatross course of the national golf course in Guyancourt.
The oldest event in Europe (since 1906) is taking a step forward and joining the Rolex Premier Series, a series of very large tournaments with high prize money, which attracts players from all over the world.
The French Open or HNA Open is the oldest and most important tournament in golf from continental Europe. It is in 1906 visit us at the golf de Paris since La Boulie has become the venue for the first French Open International Championship[], it is also won by Arnaud Massy.[]
Every year, at the end of June or beginning of July, the greatest players in the world gather for three days. This sport, so popular with golf enthusiasts, continues to grow year after year. The French Open is part of the European Tour, and the golf course was created with a unique spirit to bring together the greatest golf players from around the world in this now legendary venue.
The famous tournament continues to boast an impressive list of winners, with some of the biggest names in golf: Arnaud Massy, Walter Hagen, Bobby Locke, Nick Faldo, Severiano Ballesteros and Martin Kaymer, 2009 champion. The particularity of the Open de France course, unlike most golf courses built on natural, more or less hilly terrain, lies in the fact that it was created to host major events in excellent reception conditions with clear visibility to allow all spectators and the media to appreciate this major event with a carefully studied field of vision.
With the Rolex Series Keith Pelley, CEO of the European Tour, wanted to attract the world's golf elite and thus encourage the best European golfers to play European Tour tournaments more often. The first edition of the Rolex Series took place in 2017 and includes eight tournaments, namely the BMW PGA Championship, theOpen de France[] Irish Open, Scottish Open Italian Open as well as the three tournaments that traditionally closed the Race to Dubai, the Turkish Airlines Open, Nedbank Golf Challenge and Dubai World Championship.[]
The French Open is a challenging and demanding course distinguished by its hilly terrain, dotted with water hazards and bunkers. The French Open has become a must-see annual event for golf enthusiasts.
The French Open is played over four 4-hole rounds. After the first two days and 18 holes, the top 2 to 36 players and ties (amateurs are also counted) advance to the final two days. The final score is the sum of the scores from all four rounds. In the event of a tie for first place after the four rounds, a hole-by-hole playoff is held to decide the winner.
The year 1972 marked the birth of the European Tour as we know it today, and the French Open was a natural part of the calendar. It continued to produce great champions of the era, such as England's Peter Oosterhuis and Scotland's Brian Barnes.
Golf is a sport with many legends: Severiano Ballesteros made history in 1977, winning the second of his 50 European Tour victories and the first of his four French Opens. Seve's victory marked the beginning of fifteen glorious years for the tournament: Dale Hayes and then Bernard Gallacher followed, and then it was the turn of the legendary Greg Norman, Sandy Lyle, Nick Faldo, and Bernhard Langer to add their names to the trophy.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, other legends such as Robert Allenby, Retief Goosen, Sam Torrance, Colin Montgomerie and José Maria Olazábal also lifted the sumptuous cup.
After a transition period between 2002 and 2008 marked by the historic double of Jean-François Remésy in 2004 and 2005, we also note the surprise victory in 2008 of Pablo Larrazábal to represent Spain.
The tournament has featured prestigious winners: Germany's Martin Kaymer in 2009, Spain's Miguel Ángel Jiménez in 2010, national star Thomas Levet in 2011, Germany's Marcel Siem in 2012, Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell in 2013 and 2014 and Austria's Bernd Wiesberger in 2015, each bringing a little more brilliance to the rich list of achievements of the French Open.
Since then, the French Open has become a truly prestigious tradition, well maintained with a magnificent prize pool of 7 million dollars.
Several golf celebrities will be present for this major sporting event: Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia will be at the Golf National next week, to give rise to a tournament worthy of its prestige and to give us a great moment of emotion and passion.
