There’s nothing quite like a soggy Le Golf National to spice things up in the early rounds of the FedEx Open de France.
After an unrelenting downpour dumped nearly 80 millimetres of rain on Wednesday, ground staff worked tirelessly to make sure the Albatross Course was ready to play.
And, boy, did the players take advantage. Joe Dean, Thorbjørn Olesen, and Jesper Svensson all carded a sparkling six-under 65 to share the first-round lead, capitalizing on the softened conditions.
Englishman Joe Dean, in his first crack at Le Golf National, wasted no time posting an early clubhouse lead.
A tidy round that included four birdies and a dazzling eagle saw him navigating the course like he’d been playing it for years—even though he admitted he hadn’t even set foot on the back nine before the round.
“Good, stress-free golf. Tried keeping it in the fairways. The rough is quite juicy out there so fairway golf is pretty key.
Just hit it in the fairway to be able to control the ball. It’s been great. Hopefully another three days of that and we’ll see what happens,” Dean said. His approach was simple but effective.
But let’s not forget Olesen. The Dane, riding a wave of fond memories from his victorious 2018 Ryder Cup experience here, found his groove on the front nine, racking up four straight birdies and then capping his day with a seventh gain on the par-four seventh hole.
Olesen knows this course asks a few tough questions, but on a day when the soft fairways were giving out answers, he was more than happy to cash in.
“On the first, I holed a really long putt for birdie and then the next three I hit them pretty close.
Obviously 3 is a par 5 you can reach. With the soft conditions, there’s definitely a lot of chances out there.
It’s still a tricky course and it still asks a few questions out there, but, obviously with the soft conditions, it is a little bit easier,” he said.
And then there’s Jesper Svensson, who decided to make things interesting late in the afternoon.
Sitting ninth in the Race to Dubai Rankings, he made a late surge, stringing together four consecutive birdies starting from the 14th. His assessment? A solid day in challenging weather.
“Good start today, definitely. Two good shots and setup some nice putts. The front today was tough with the rain and the wind. Overall, very happy with the day,” Svensson remarked.
He’s also quick to praise the course staff, saying, “I’m staying here on-site looking out the window last night, it looked like 16 green was completely underwater. So they must have done a tremendous job this morning to get it ready.”
Le Golf National, as always, demanded precision, but the soft turf and calm conditions threw open the doors for scoring.
Adrien Saddier, the top French player in the mix, sits just a shot behind the leaders after carding a five-under 66, while Ukrainian amateur Lev Grinberg and Denmark’s Nicolai Højgaard are part of a six-player pack tied for fourth.
As the tournament rolls on, the leaderboard is packed with potential, and golf fans will be eager to see how the top players handle whatever Mother Nature and the Albatross Course throw at them next.
