The Road to Mallorca heads to France for the Blot Play9 at Golf Bluegreen de Pléneuf Val André this week. Here are three men to keep an eye on…
Form Horse: Jhared Hack
Jhared Hack recorded a fifth-place finish at the English Open supported by HotelPlanner last week, earning his fourth top ten finish on the 2026 Road to Mallorca. After narrowly missing out on victory at the DP World PGTI Open, finishing one-stroke behind the eventual winner MJ Daffue, the American has missed the cut just once in his eight HotelPlanner Tour starts this year, finishing inside the top 20 in six of the seven events where he has made the weekend. Hack currently sits in eighth position on the season-long rankings and another positive result this week could see him strengthen his grip on one of the 15 DP World Tour cards available at the end of the season.
Local boy: Maxence Gibodout
Maxence Giboudot has certainly earned his praise in the early part of the 2026 season, coming close to a maiden HotelPlanner Tour win twice already. He finished in third-place at the season-opening SDC Open before a second-place finish at the Danish Golf Challenge via a play-off loss. The 22-year-old has shown considerable improvements to his overall game this year, and despite missing the cut at last week’s English Open supported by HotelPlanner, he will be hoping to impress on home soil again after making waves in the 2025 edition, where he finished in a tie for seventh.
Outsider: Max Kennedy
Max Kennedy missed out on a maiden HotelPlanner Tour win at the 2025 edition of Blot Play9, losing in a play-off against James Morrison after the pair could not be separated after 72-holes. The Irishman showed real glimpses of class in Pléneuf, including an opening round of ten under par. The 24-year-old has had a mixed start to the season despite his second-place finish at the NTT DATA Pro-Am brought to you by Standard Bank, and whist he sits in 37th on the Rankings, Kennedy will be looking to repeat last year’s opening-round magic to really push himself into contention come November’s Rolex Grand Final supported by the R&A.
