Dan Bradbury put on a thrilling performance at Le Golf National to claim his second DP World Tour title, winning the FedEx Open de France in dramatic fashion.
Starting two strokes behind, the 25-year-old Englishman rallied with a bogey-free final round of five under par, shooting a 66 to clinch a one-stroke victory.
His steady play, highlighted by three consecutive birdies from the 14th hole, helped him finish with a 16 under-par total, just edging out a strong field including Sam Bairstow, Yannik Paul, Thorbjørn Olesen, and Jeff Winther.
Bradbury’s round began on a positive note with a birdie on the first hole, but he showed immense patience by parring the next eight holes.
A birdie at the tenth kept him in the mix, and he surged to the top as part of an 11-way tie before pulling ahead with his clutch birdies on 14, 15, and 16.
Meanwhile, Winther had already signed for the clubhouse lead at 15 under, and both Paul and Bradbury joined him before Bradbury sealed the deal over the final four holes.
The final stretch was where Bradbury shone, playing Le Golf National’s notoriously difficult closing holes in two under par.
On the 18th, he calmly two-putted to finish at 16 under, as his competitors, Bairstow and Olesen, could only manage pars to remain tied in second place.
Bradbury’s victory has not only boosted his standing on the Race to Dubai Rankings, where he started the week in 98th position, but also secured his spot in the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.
Dan Bradbury: “A very, very solid day. Lots of chances. Felt a little frustrated there kind of at the start of the back nine. Missed good chances on 12 and 13. To be honest I thought I was going to drop a few back there, knowing that those holes are easier and coming into the last four, you never know what’s going to happen.
“I always look at leaderboards, so I know that Gunner (Wiebe) and Joe (Dean) who I was playing with, two shots behind, they were like 15th, and I was in second or third at the time.
So I knew that it was pretty bunched up at that point. It was more a case of just staying in it, and see what happens coming in.
“When I teed up at Wentworth, I was 100th in the rankings with a few Back Nine events coming up, lots of points available, I was far from safe.
Luckily I had a decent week in Madrid and played okay at St Andrews and the Dunhill.
I didn’t have the result there. But I built a little bit of momentum up and yeah, took that into this week and played four solid rounds.”
Matthew Jordan and Francesco Laporta shared sixth place at 14 under, while Ukraine’s Lev Grinberg, finishing on six under, earned low-amateur honours.
It was a week of stellar play from Bradbury, who now looks to build on this success in the final stages of the season.
