Staff WriterRobin Sciot-Siegrist lit up the leaderboard on Thursday with a wind-blown 65 to grab the solo lead after the opening round of the Le Vaudreuil Challenge, sending a clear message: the Frenchman means business this week in Normandy.
Sciot-Siegrist, who suffered playoff heartbreak at this very event three years ago, returned to Golf PGA France du Vaudreuil with something to prove – and promptly birdied the last to edge one clear of a tight chasing pack that includes fellow Frenchman Clément Charmasson, Scotsman Daniel Young, and England’s James Allan.
“I’m very pleased,” Sciot-Siegrist said after his round. “It’s a good test of golf, there was a lot of wind, and I played very solid. It was a nice round.”
That might be underselling it. After six straight pars to open, the 31-year-old caught fire with four consecutive birdies from the 7th. He piled on seven red numbers in a nine-hole stretch, the kind of heater that can turn a quiet start into a leaderboard coup.
“It’s a course where I think if you’re a little short of the pins, or middle of the greens, you’ll be okay,” he explained. “You don’t have to go for the pins, so I just tried to stick to that, and it paid off today.”
Even a stumble at the 17th couldn’t cool him off for long. Sciot-Siegrist bounced back with a closing birdie at the par-five 18th to card a 7-under total – the lowest round of the day and a fitting reward for a player who looked utterly in command.
“I didn’t make some putts at the beginning, but I actually played quite decent, and then just started going,” he added. “I then made four in a row. I just kept doing what I was doing, and they kept going in. I made two long putts, and the other birdies, I just played the par fives well. I hit it close on the others too.”
Just behind him, Mathieu Decottignies-Lafon fired a sensational closing stretch with five straight birdies to post a five-under 67, placing him alone in fifth and right in the mix heading into Friday.
A quartet sits one shot further back on four under, including Germany’s Anton Albers, Scotland’s Jack McDonald, Austrian talent Maximilian Steinlechner and Frenchman Nicolas Calvet.
The Le Vaudreuil Challenge resumes Friday morning, with Sciot-Siegrist teeing off at 9:00 am alongside Scotland’s Euan Walker and Spaniard Quim Vidal. If Thursday’s wind doesn’t die down, expect more fireworks – and perhaps a few fireworks extinguished – as the cutline looms.
But for now, Normandy belongs to Sciot-Siegrist – and after a round like that, who’s betting against him finally lifting the trophy he nearly touched in 2021?
