Frederic Lacroix, the 29-year-old Frenchman with nerves of steel, pulled off a thrilling comeback at the Danish Golf Championship, bagging his first-ever DP World Tour title.
Lacroix, who started the day four shots behind, went on a birdie blitz at Lübker Golf Resort, carding a flawless six-under 65 to win by a comfortable four strokes.
In a story that feels as French as a baguette in Paris, Lacroix continued a recent trend of French victories on the DP World Tour.
With Antoine Rozner and Victor Perez both winning last year, and David Ravetto claiming victory just last week at the D+D REAL Czech Masters, it seems the French are having quite the golf renaissance.
Lacroix didn’t waste any time closing the gap on the leader, Lucas Bjerregaard. A birdie on the very first hole set the tone, and by the time he rolled in birdies on the fifth and seventh, he was already neck and neck at 11 under par.
But it was after the turn where Lacroix really put the pedal to the metal. Birdies on the tenth and twelfth holes sent him three shots clear, and a beauty on the par-three 15th gave him a four-shot cushion with three to play.
The last three holes were more of a victory lap as Lacroix calmly parred his way to the clubhouse, his first DP World Tour trophy safely in hand on his 57th try.
Frederic Lacroix: “It’s hard to realise yet, it will come a bit later. I was just happy to finish my round.
I had a good round, bogey-free today. So I’m very happy with how I did today.
“I’ve been close a few times, especially this year. I’ve just been improving the past few years, slowly but steadily.
I just kept doing my thing and it’s nice to see it come together with the win today.
“It’s more seeing my friend David (Ravetto) win last week. It shows that it’s possible, it’s more than doable. I’m just lost for words now.”
Meanwhile, Romain Langasque and local favourite Bjerregaard couldn’t find that extra gear to challenge Lacroix.
Both finished tied for second at ten under par, with Langasque shooting an even-par 71, and Bjerregaard stumbling to a two-over 73.
Ravetto, the latest Frenchman to hoist a trophy, kept his hot streak alive with a fourth-place finish at nine under, thanks to a solid four-under final round.
Among those tied for fifth, one stroke further back, was Amateur Champion Jacob Skov Olesen, who made a splash in his regular DP World Tour debut.
Scores after Round Four:
270 F LACROIX (FRA) 67 71 67 65,
274 R LANGASQUE (FRA) 71 66 66 71, L BJERREGAARD (DEN) 70 65 66 73,
275 D RAVETTO (FRA) 70 69 69 67,
276 J DEAN (ENG) 68 70 71 67, P FIGUEIREDO (POR) 69 70 70 67, C BLOMSTRAND (SWE) 68 70 70 68, A SADDIER (FRA) 68 69 69 70, J OLESEN (AM) (DEN) 72 66 66 72,
277 J WALTERS (RSA) 69 70 73 65, T CLEMENTS (ENG) 70 69 69 69, D MICHELUZZI (AUS) 71 70 67 69, T MCKIBBIN (NIR) 74 67 67 69,
278 B ROBINSON THOMPSON (ENG) 68 70 72 68, N H?JGAARD (DEN) 73 67 70 68, S SHARMA (IND) 69 69 69 71, T AIKEN (RSA) 68 71 68 71, A WILSON (ENG) 69 69 67 73,
279 D WHITNELL (ENG) 73 68 71 67, L NEMECZ (AUT) 70 70 70 69, Y PAUL (GER) 70 73 66 70, B WIESBERGER (AUT) 70 70 68 71, R NEERGAARD-PETERSEN (DEN) 71 66 70 72, M EGE (NOR) 69 71 67 72, M SIMONSEN (DEN) 69 70 67 73, J AXELSEN (DEN) 70 71 64 74,
280 J FAHRBRING (SWE) 73 70 71 66, J GUERRIER (FRA) 69 68 73 70, O WILSON (ENG) 71 71 68 70, J WINTHER (DEN) 70 72 68 70, M ROTTLUFF (GER) 72 68 70 70, J SCRIVENER (AUS) 71 71 67 71, F LAPORTA (ITA) 70 70 69 71, J BERRY (ENG) 71 69 69 71, A SULLIVAN (ENG) 74 64 70 72, N NORGAARD (DEN) 71 69 67 73,
281 M SIEM (GER) 73 70 72 66, S KANG (KOR) 70 70 71 70, J PARRY (ENG) 68 72 70 71, O BEKKER (RSA) 70 72 67 72, S KJELDSEN (DEN) 74 69 64 74,
282 K BROBERG (SWE) 71 69 74 68, U COUSSAUD (FRA) 77 64 72 69, A PAVAN (ITA) 70 72 70 70, D HORSEY (ENG) 68 70 73 71, T OLESEN (DEN) 74 69 68 71, M ARMITAGE (ENG) 72 70 69 71, E PEPPERELL (ENG) 70 67 73 72, A JOHNSTON (ENG) 70 70 69 73, K REITAN (NOR) 71 66 69 76, S JONES (NZL) 67 73 66 76,
283 C SHINKWIN (ENG) 73 68 67 75,
284 S HUTSBY (ENG) 72 71 73 68, R H?JGAARD (DEN) 65 72 77 70, B RUSCH (SUI) 71 71 71 71, J G?TH-RASMUSSEN (DEN) 74 68 68 74,
285 R WILLIAMS (RSA) 69 72 75 69, G FORREST (SCO) 70 70 75 70, M QUIROS (ESP) 77 66 71 71, J BLIXT (SWE) 71 72 69 73,
286 R CABRERA BELLO (ESP) 68 74 73 71, J THYSTED (DEN) 71 68 76 71,
287 L RUUSKA (FIN) 75 68 79 65, D BRADBURY (ENG) 73 70 72 72, J RUTHERFORD (ENG) 74 69 71 73,
288 L SCALISE (ITA) 72 71 71 74, M WARREN (SCO) 73 68 73 74, J DE BRUYN (GER) 67 71 73 77,
289 K APHIBARNRAT (THA) 70 70 81 68, J KRUYSWIJK (RSA) 71 72 73 73,
290 T SHADBOLT (ENG) 73 70 73 74,
**
OUT J SENEKAL (RSA) 70 70 70 WD,
**
144 R FISHER (ENG) 74 70, T LEWIS (ENG) 74 70, N WATNEY (USA) 76 68, J GUMBERG (USA) 74 70, I CANTERO (ESP) 72 72, M KAWAMURA (JPN) 70 74, T BJ?RN (DEN) 71 73, M SCHNEIDER (GER) 71 73, S MANLEY (WAL) 74 70, C BRING (DEN) 72 72, M BESARD (BEL) 71 73, E KOFSTAD (NOR) 74 70,
145 W ENEFER (ENG) 75 70, J DANTORP (SWE) 72 73, D BROWN (ENG) 71 74, D YOUNG (SCO) 73 72, T HUMPHREY (USA) 70 75, O HUNDEB?LL (DEN) 75 70, N VON DELLINGSHAUSEN (GER) 72 73, C JARVIS (RSA) 74 71, J GIRRBACH (SUI) 69 76, M SCHWAB (AUT) 72 73, J DAVIDSON (WAL) 73 72,
146 A OTAEGUI (ESP) 73 73, P LAUNER BAEK (DEN) 71 75, A WU (CHN) 72 74, D LAW (SCO) 71 75, G PORTEOUS (ENG) 72 74, M BALDWIN (ENG) 73 73, C HANNA (USA) 71 75, T TREE (ENG) 75 71, F SCHOTT (GER) 77 69, N KRISTENSEN (DEN) 73 73, R MANSELL (ENG) 70 76, G CHEN (CHN) 70 76, P WARING (ENG) 74 72,
147 S BROHOLT LIND (DEN) 68 79, J JANEWATTANANOND (THA) 76 71, K JOHANNESSEN (NOR) 74 73, D FRITTELLI (RSA) 76 71, R ENOCH (WAL) 72 75, M PENGE (ENG) 69 78, B STONE (RSA) 72 75, A ARNAUS (ESP) 73 74, S TARRIO (ESP) 73 74,
148 J HARDING (RSA) 76 72, A COCKERILL (CAN) 74 74, F CELLI (ITA) 80 68, J CAMPILLO (ESP) 73 75, S FRIEDRICHSEN (DEN) 74 74, G HURLEY (IRL) 72 76, H BARRON (AUS) 72 76, M MADSEN (DEN) 69 79, N ELVIRA (ESP) 76 72, R GOUVEIA (POR) 72 76, J NICHOLAS (USA) 72 76, S FORSSTR?M (SWE) 74 74, B FOLLETT-SMITH (ZIM) 76 72,
149 H LONG (GER) 72 77, M ELVIRA (ESP) 72 77, N GALLETTI (USA) 74 75,
150 S GARCIA (ESP) 75 75, J ANDERSEN (DEN) 76 74, R PARATORE (ITA) 72 78,
151 N BACHEM (GER) 76 75, J MORRISON (ENG) 77 74, A MARTIN (AUS) 76 75,
152 L VACARISAS (ESP) 77 75, D GERMISHUYS (RSA) 74 78, G BOYD (ENG) 78 74,
153 O CHOUHAN (IND) 76 77,
154 P MOOLMAN (RSA) 73 81, P KATICH (GER) 74 80,
157 D MOSTERT (RSA) 77 80, J MOSCATEL (ESP) 81 76, H BROWN (DEN) 71 86,
**
OUT D GAVINS (ENG) 71 RT, J PRINSLOO (RSA) 79 RT, S GALLACHER (SCO) 74 RT, M SOUTHGATE (ENG) 72 RT, A GARCIA-HEREDIA (ESP) 70 DQ, S BAIRSTOW (ENG) 75 WD, J DONALDSON (WAL) 74 RT, O STRYDOM (RSA) 75 WD,
