The Back 9 reaches its halfway point as continental Europe's oldest national open heads to a change of scenery at the FedEx Open de France. Here are your five things to know.
Bradbury defends
Dan Bradbury claimed his second DP World Tour title in Paris last October after a tense final-day battle at Le Golf National. With well over a dozen players in contention throughout most of the fourth round, Bradbury finally emerged from the pack with three straight birdies on the back nine and held on to win at 16 under par. Playing in the penultimate group, Bradbury shot a bogey-free 66 on Sunday. He celebrated his par putt at the last with a fist-pump and then watched from the scorers’ hut as Thorbjørn Olesen and Sam Bairstow also parred the hole to finish one behind, where they were tied with Jeff Winther and Yannik Paul.
“The goal this week was to make the cut so I didn’t have to go to Korea (needing to) keep my card," he said. “I remember looking at one point, playing with Gunner (Wiebe) and Joe (Dean), they were both two shots behind me and I was second and they were, like, 14th. Part of me was just thinking, ‘well, don’t drop a few!’. It was just, stay in it – we all know the finish round here, anything can happen, and it almost did.”
Back at Golf de Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche
With work taking place at Le Golf National, this year's event moves to Golf de Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche for the first time since 1982. This will be the fourth time it has hosted France's national open with Ramón Sota, Jean Garaïalde and most recently the late great Seve Ballesteros having lifted the trophy previously. The course was also the long-time venue of the Trophée Lancôme from 1970 to 2003, with Ballesteros, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Sandy Lyle, Ian Woosnam and José María Olazábal among the winners. The layout features a golfing rarity, a closing par three, so we could in for some thrilling finishes over the weekend.
Home heroes looking to shine
It has been a sensational couple of seasons on the DP World Tour for French golfers, with David Ravetto, Frederic Lacroix, Julien Guerrier, Martin Couvra and last week's runner-up Adrien Saddier all tasting glory and Matthieu Pavon also becoming a PGA TOUR winner. That sensational six are all in the field this week and are joined by Rolex Series winner Victor Perez and fellow DP World Tour winners Antoine Rozner, Romain Langasque and Alexander Levy. Add in rising stars Ugo Coussaud and Tom Vaillant along with 2025 HotelPlanner Tour winner Oihan Guillamoundeguy, to name but a few, the home fans have plenty to cheer.
International field assembles
There may be a plethora of home talent on display but it is no surprise that one of the DP World Tour's most historic and prestigious events has attracted a host of stars from all over the world, with five-time Major winner Brooks Koepka playing for a third week in a row. PGA TOUR stars Michael Kim and Corey Conners from the United States and Canada rerspectively are on the hunt for maiden DP World Tour wins, while Kiwi Ryan Fox and Australia's Min Woo Lee tee it up having won on the other side of the pond in 2025. They form part of a truly global field which sees all six inhabited continents represented.
G4D Tour and Eagles for Good take flight
The G4D Tour will make its debut in France this week, with the G4D Tour @ FedEx Open de France. The penultimate event of the G4D Tour season sees ten of the world’s best golfers with a disability tee it up in the two-round Net only event taking place on Monday and Tuesday. It marks the final opportunity for those in the field to make sure of their place at Club de Golf Alcanada in October, with the winner in France qualifying for the G4D Tour Series Finale @ Rolex Grand Final. Four players will make their first G4D Tour start this week, with England’s Adam Dalton and the Czech Republic’s Tereza Sršňová among them.
This week also sees the launch of the Eagles for Good initiative, engaging with the Arbor Day Foundation to plant at least 500 trees on local farmland. FedEx has committed to planting a minimum of 500 trees at a farm in Noisy-le-Roi, just a few minutes away from Golf de Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche. FedEx will also plant 25 additional trees for each eagle carded during the FedEx Open de France.
