My final round today (Sunday) saw me sign off with a two under par 69 in the €3 million Open de France, at Le Golf National in Paris on the DP World Tour.
As I handed in my card, I am currently tied 29th place with rounds of 73, 67, 72 and 69 to be three under par for the week on 281.
I got off to a flier with three birdies in the first six holes and then a bogey – birdie exchange on holes 7 and 9 to be out in three under par 33.
Par finish
Turning for home, I bogeyed holes 12 and 13, and finished holes 15 – 18 with a birdie – bogey – birdie - par finish with the leaders still on the golf course with upto 11 holes still to play. The final four holes here are legendary around the world for their toughness and for attracting golf balls, even when you are playing well you always have thoughts in the back of your mind on what is ahead of you and that you cannot just cruise in to the clubhouse.
The last hole, the par 4, playing at 441 yards owed me something after yesterday’s triple bogey, so three pars for my other three tries over the hardest hole on the golf course all week, is pretty cool.
This week has been very satisfying and a landmark week as I measure my progress in my return from illness. To finish with a strong final round and a very good week has energized me for the rest of this season on the DP World Tour.
I had six birdies today with my flat stick on fire with birdie putts of over 35 feet, 20 feet, 12 feet and three more birdie putts under 6 feet.
I am now on the 2022 – 2023 DP World Tour Rankings with my first cheque of the season.
My performance this week sees me projected to be in the DP World Tour Rankings at 243rd, at least it is a good start.
I am just reviewing my statistics for this week over the Le Golf National, Par 71, 7247 yards Albatros Course that first hosted the Open de France in 1991.
This week my stats over the 72 holes are as below:
Pars – 42.
Birdies – 18.
Bogeys – 10.
Double Bogeys – 1.
Triple Bogeys – 1.
Take away the ‘worse than bogeys’ category and I would be right up there in the mix.
I am playing next week in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland.
This week will hopefully give me some confidence for next week, where we are playing for $5 million.
I have really enjoyed contributing to my GULF NEWS Daily Diary from Paris, with a little support from my wife Rachel.
Thank you to everyone, both friends and golf fans and again a special shout out to my good friends at Aviv Clinics, Dubai for getting me back on my feet and for all your encouragement, it has meant a lot.
Onwards and upwards!
See you all soon!
- Nicolas Colsaerts, 39 years-old is a Dubai Golden VISA Awardee. He is a three time tournament winner on the DP World, a member of Team Europe in The 2012 Ryder Team in Medinah.
