Open de France: Tommy Fleetwood wins Open de France

Final leaderboard

-12 Tommy Fleetwood
-11 Peter Uihlein
-8 Mike Lorenzo-Vera, Thorbjorn Olesen, Alexander Bjork
-7 Ryan Fox

Scroll down for full collated scores 

Day four report

Rising star Tommy Fleetwood produced a flawless final-round 66 to win the Open de France, event two of the European Tour's Rolex Series.

The Englishman will enter the world's top 15 on Monday following his second victory of the season, to go with a breakthrough top-five in the US Open last month.

Fleetwood carded five birdies and no bogeys to shoot 12-under overall and get the better of 54-hole leader Peter Uihlein, who secured an Open Championship place with clear second but couldn't find the birdie he needed at the final hole to force a play-off.

Denmark's Thorbjorn Olesen made an early charge to post eight-under and eventually finished third alongside France's Mike Lorenzo-Vera and Sweden's Alex Bjork, who join Uihlein at the Open later this month thanks to a share of third.

So too does Ryan Fox, who finished alone in fifth after Bjork birdied from range at the final hole.

Fleetwood started his final round in total control and exuded it throughout, almost making a hole-in-one at the second, hitting the par-five third in two for a tap-in birdie and repeating the feat at the long ninth hole.

He continued to hit greens as others made errors on a difficult Golf National, before an approach to within six feet at the 13th followed by another par-five birdie at the 14th gave him daylight.

Uihlein was two-over for the round through five holes and rallied brilliantly with five birdies from the sixth onwards, but Fleetwood was able to find the par he needed at the last to post a total out of the American's reach.

Still, it was a return to the top level of European Tour golf for Uihlein, whose friend Brooks Koepka won the US Open in June.

Fleetwood meanwhile continues to impress and is as short as 20/1 for the Open, which will be played at his home course, Royal Birkdale. He had started the year as big as 200/1 but is now among the favourites as his rapid ascent continues.

"When (the Rolex Series) all got talked about last year, everybody knew those were the tournaments you wanted to play well in," Fleetwood told Sky Sports.

"To win a Rolex Series event, the way the Tour's going, it's a big deal for me.

"It was good, from start to finish really, nearly holed my first two iron shots. I didn't mis-strike a shot at all. I played great today, felt comfy again."

Fleetwood was briefly four clear in the final round and paid credit to Uihlein's closing stretch, which made for victory by the narrowest margin.

"I can't believe how close he got actually," Fleetwood said. "On 14 I was four clear - finished with four pars, didn't think I'd be scratching a win by a shot!"

Asked to explain his rise from outside the world's top 150 last summer to his new slot among the game's elite, Fleetwood paid tribute to his support team and happiness off the course.

"I'm engaged, I'm expecting a baby, my caddie is my best mate in the world," he added. "Everybody around me, I have really strong relationships with."

Uihlein said: "I didn't really look much at the board but when I saw he (Fleetwood) posted 12 (under), I think I was nine under at that point. I just wanted to try and at least make him earn it. 

"All I was trying to do was just put a little pressure on him. I didn't want him to feel like he could bogey a couple of holes and still be okay. 

"The only thing I probably would try and redo is maybe be a little bit more aggressive on 15, 16. It was just a bad tee shot on 18, so I didn't give myself much of a chance. But other than that, it was a good week. 

"It's a good event to finish runner-up and it gets me into The Open and it moves me up the Race to Dubai rankings a little bit."     

Final collated scores

(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 71): 

272 Tommy Fleetwood 67 68 71 66

273 Peter Uihlein (USA) 67 67 71 68

276 Mike Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 71 69 70 66, Alexander Bjork (Swe) 66 69 70 71, Thorbjorn Olesen (Den) 69 69 73 65

277 Ryan Fox (Nzl) 73 67 70 67

278 Haotong Li (Chi) 71 70 70 67, Ross Fisher 70 67 71 70, Adrian Otaegui (Spa) 68 66 74 70

279 Alex Noren (Swe) 69 71 69 70, Jon Rahm (Spa) 70 69 71 69, Lee Westwood 71 67 71 70

280 Andy Sullivan 68 70 68 74, Paul Dunne 70 72 73 65, Thomas Pieters (Bel) 66 71 69 74

281 Adrien Saddier (Fra) 68 73 68 72, David Drysdale 70 69 70 72, Maximilian Kieffer (Ger) 71 68 72 70, Paul Waring 64 72 72 73, Kristoffer Broberg (Swe) 68 71 70 72, Gary Stal (Fra) 69 73 69 70, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 68 73 72 68

282 Andrew Johnston 72 68 69 73, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 73 67 73 69Eddie Pepperell 71 71 71 69, Gregory Havret (Fra) 73 66 71 72

283 Marcel Siem (Ger) 69 73 72 69, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 70 69 74 70, Bradley Dredge 69 69 69 76

284 Robert Rock 71 67 73 73, Jordan Smith 70 72 75 67

285 Scott Hend (Aus) 69 70 77 69, Lasse Jensen (Ger) 73 69 71 72, Joost Luiten (Nlr) 69 71 70 75, Haydn Porteous (Rsa) 72 67 73 73, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 70 70 74 71, Jamie Donaldson 72 69 75 69

286 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 71 70 71 74, Ricardo Gouveia (Por) 73 70 71 72, Jason Scrivener (Aut) 73 69 72 72, Daniel Brooks 72 71 74 69, Nathan Kimsey 66 70 75 75, Mikko Korhonen (Fin) 72 68 75 71, Graeme Storm 71 66 74 75

287 Felipe Aguilar (Col) 72 67 76 72, Jens Fahrbring (Swe) 71 70 75 71, Ian Poulter 72 69 71 75, Rikard Karlberg (Swe) 68 70 74 75Florian Fritsch (Ger) 67 74 76 70

288 Pep Angles (Spa) 72 70 73 73, Nacho Elvira (Spa) 72 68 73 75, Romain Langasque (Fra) 73 65 77 73, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 73 69 74 72, Oliver Fisher 73 69 75 71

289 Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 69 72 76 72, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 70 73 79 67

290 Alexander Levy (Fra) 69 71 74 76, Chris Hanson 72 70 75 73, Joakim Lagergren (Swe) 70 72 74 74, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 70 68 79 73, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 69 73 77 71

292 Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 72 71 75 74, Julien Quesne (Fra) 71 72 76 73, Nino Bertasio (Ita) 69 70 79 74293 Trevor Fisher Jnr (Rsa) 71 70 76 76

294 Daniel Im (USA) 70 72 76 76, Damien Perrier (Fra) 71 71 76 76, Callum Shinkwin 69 72 72 81

296 Phachara Khongwatmai (Tha) 71 72 82 71, Sebastien Gros (Fra) 73 70 76 77, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 73 70 77 76 

Day three report

Ryder Cup star Thomas Pieters recovered from breaking his driver to remain firmly in contention for the £5.4million HNA Open de France.

After following eight straight pars by pulling his drive on the ninth into the water for the second day running, Pieters took his anger out on the offending club and saw the shaft snap.

However, the 25-year-old Belgian, who won a record four points on his Ryder Cup debut last year, immediately regained his composure to birdie the next two holes and picked up another shot on the 15th.

And the resulting 69 left Pieters on seven under par, just one shot off the lead share by Peter Uihlein and Alexander Bjork at Le Golf National, which will stage the biennial contest between Europe and the United States in 2018.

"I wasn't trying to break my driver at all," Pieters said. "Me and my caddie, we kind of laughed because I just put it in my bag and I think there's maybe a soft spot in the shaft or something.

"I didn't put it in with a lot of force and it broke. I mean, it's my own fault and to have to play the back nine on this golf course without a driver, it's not easy. I definitely took some penalty for that.

"I didn't hit a lot of fairways and left myself long second shots, which wasn't fun. I was swinging it very badly. Thank God I putted well.

"I just need to go to the range and work on some stuff and I think there's going to be a phone call to (coach) Pete Cowen today.

"I'm still where I want to be. Can't really believe that I'm one off the lead with such poor play. Hopefully going to fix that and go low tomorrow, because the leaderboard is very bunched."

A level-par 71 was enough for halfway joint-leader Uihlein to remain at the head of the field and the American will look to take inspiration from the US Open victory of his former house-mate Brooks Koepka.

"I think it was coming for BK, he's been playing awesome," Uihlein said. "I was excited for him. I felt like the way that course set up, it was pretty tailor-made for him.

"It was awesome to see. He striped it down the stretch and that was pretty awesome."

Uihlein and Bjork enjoyed a one-shot lead over Pieters, Tommy Fleetwood and Andy Sullivan, whose 68 equalled the lowest score of a wet and windy day on the outskirts of Paris.

Fleetwood, who was fourth behind Koepka at Erin Hills and followed up with a tie for sixth in last week's BMW International Open, carded three birdies and three bogeys in his 71.

The 26-year-old from Southport, who won his second European Tour title in Abu Dhabi in January, said: "It's been a great year so far, but you have to keep it going, don't you?

"I've said it all the time this year, but when you've had a year of struggling, you really do appreciate being in contention on a Sunday. It doesn't get any better than this; these events, great players, great course, Sunday, trying to win it."

Welshman Bradley Dredge is just two shots off the lead after a third straight 69, with Ross Fisher, Paul Waring and halfway joint-leader Adrian Otaegui a shot further back on five under.

Waring held the outright lead after his fourth birdie of the day on the 14th, but double-bogeyed the 15th and 18th after finding the water with his approach on both holes.

At the other end of the leaderboard, Chris Wood struggled to a third round of 79 to lie eight over par before withdrawing from the event due to injury.

Wood wrote on Twitter: "Shame to WD from the French open today, but a wrist injury picked up in practice last week just got worse last couple of days."

Day two report

American Peter Uihlein drew inspiration from the US Open victory of former room-mate Brooks Koepka to claim a share of the lead in the weather-affected HNA Open de France.

Uihlein, who shared an apartment with compatriot Koepka in his first few years as a professional, carded a second consecutive 67 at Le Golf National to join Spain's Adrian Otaegui at the top of the leaderboard on eight under par.

Otaegui had set the early clubhouse target following a superb 66, before an afternoon thunderstorm led to a delay of two hours and five minutes.

After going to the turn in 34, a hat-trick of birdies from the 13th took Uihlein into the outright lead, only for the 27-year-old to card his only bogey of the first two days on the 17th.

Uihlein, who missed the cut at Erin Hills while Koepka powered to a record-equalling victory, said: "I've holed a decent amount of putts, which I didn't do at all at the US Open.

"To come out a week and a half later and start holing some putts takes a lot of pressure off a lot of things. Makes it a little more comforting.

"We still have 36 holes left, so you never know. But I think any time you can put yourself into contention after two days is where you want to be and see where you're at as the weekend plays out."

England's Tommy Fleetwood, who was fourth behind Koepka at Erin Hills, shares third place with Sweden's Alexander Bjork after completing a 68 following the weather delay.

"It's always quite tricky when you have to go back out," the 26-year-old from Southport said. "It was a shame because I felt like I had a lovely rhythm again today.

"You don't want to come in, but it was fine. At least we got to finish. It's nice to finish this evening rather than getting up early tomorrow morning and coming back. The last two holes are tough and a couple of pars there is a nice end to the day really."

First-round leader Paul Waring could only add a 72 to his opening 64 to finish six under par alongside compatriot Nathan Kimsey, with Graeme Storm, Ross Fisher and Ryder Cup star Thomas Pieters a shot further back.

"I putted well, that's the only positive out of today," Pieters told Sky Sports after a 71 featuring four birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey. 

"I scrambled well on some holes, but my putting has definitely been very good the last two days.

"I didn't hit it well off the tee today and it cost me four or five shots; it's definitely a second-shot golf course. If you can place it in the fairway you don't need to be very long. If you're hitting from the short grass it's a big advantage, especially with the rough being wet.

"I've got some work to do but I won't be calling my coach Pete Cowen. I know what I have to do."

Rising Spanish star Jon Rahm was also set to spend some time on the range, despite adding a 69 to his opening 70 to finish three under.

"My game off the tee, I wish it could be better," the 22-year-old world number 11 said. "I've been trying to fix it. I don't know what's going on.

"At least now I'm missing right instead of left which is something I can play with. But I've been lucky to manage myself around and shoot under par twice, with only five fairways today and five yesterday, which is something that's pretty unusual here.

"My ball-striking after the tee shot feels great. My irons look good. My short game feels great. My putting feels great. I've been making a lot of long putts. I just need to give myself a chance to be on the fairway and maybe make some birdies."

Day one report

England's Paul Waring left some of Europe's biggest names trailing in his wake to claim the lead after the first round of the £5.4million HNA Open de France.

Waring, 32, who is competing this season on a medical exemption due to ongoing back problems which restricted him to four starts in 2016, carded seven birdies in a flawless opening 64 at Le Golf National, venue for the 2018 Ryder Cup.

That left the former English Amateur champion two shots clear of Thomas Pieters, Alexander Bjork and qualifying school winner Nathan Kimsey, with Tommy Fleetwood part of a three-strong group on four under.

Pieters, who won a record four points from five matches on his Ryder Cup debut at Hazeltine, carded six birdies and a solitary bogey in his 66 after benefiting from a putting lesson from the coach of fellow Belgian Thomas Detry.

"I did some good work on Sunday with Thomas Detry's putting coach and he made a bunch of putts last week so I figured he's good," Pieters told Sky Sports.

"It was about visualising and I definitely saw the ball go in the hole before I hit it and hit plenty of good putts. I've been a feel putter my whole life and to get one little tip on seeing those putts go in really helped for me.

"Any time I hit a green today I felt like I had a good chance to make birdie so I'm very happy."

Kimsey, who won the qualifying school last year after coming through all three stages, recovered from a bogey on his opening hole - the 10th - to card five birdies in the next six on his way to a 66, which matched Bjork's flawless effort.

"It's definitely up there as one of the best rounds of the season," said Kimsey, who has missed the cut in nine of his 13 events in 2017.

"I've watched a lot on TV over the years, so obviously sort of knew the reputation of the golf course and how tough it was. Coming here for the first time, you're just trying to feel your way around and not get into too much trouble out there."

Fleetwood, who followed his fourth place in the US Open with a tie for sixth in last week's BMW International Open, carded four birdies in a flawless 67 to share fifth place with American Peter Uihlein and Germany's Florian Fritsch.

The 26-year-old from Southport, who won his second European Tour title in Abu Dhabi in January, was a lowly 188th in the world rankings last September, but has reaped the rewards of returning to his former coach Alan Thompson, who was rewarded with an emotional first trip to the Masters in April.

"I think it's the one thing that he's always wanted to do," Fleetwood, who is now ranked 21st, added on Sky Sports. "It was a big deal.

"We drove in on Sunday or Monday morning and Magnolia Lane didn't really bother him. We were just chatting away and then as soon as we got out of the car he said 'You're going to have to leave me alone' and went off somewhere just to have a moment to himself.

"He's been great for me, we've been doing really good work and my swing's in the best place it's ever been. We get on great and he's a brilliant coach."  

Former champions Martin Kaymer and Graeme McDowell were three off the pace after rounds of 69, while Rahm birdied his final hole to finish one under.

Waring, who is ranked 279th in the world after finishing second in the Joburg Open and third in the Hassan Trophy earlier this season, said: "I'm made up. I think I only hit five fairways around here, which is obscene.

"But I had nine putts on the back nine and gave myself some real chances and took them. I felt like the short game was really tidy today and holed a few putts for par to keep the momentum going.

"You are always trying to push yourself forward, move up any sort of rankings, be that Race to Dubai or world rankings. We've got a good strong field here this year so there's plenty of world ranking points available."