No doubting Thomas is planning to steal show in Paris
REIGNING USPGA champion Justin Thomas is the headline act in a strong field at this week’s HNA Open de France.
Thomas, currently ranked No2 in the world, will be one of three top-10 players to tee it up alongside Jon Rahm and defending champion Tommy Fleetwood.
All told, seven Major champions are in Paris, including Sergio Garcia, Martin Kaymer, Danny Willett, Trevor Immelman, Graeme Mcdowell and Jose Maria Olazabal.
With Le Golf National hosting the Ryder Cup in September, Thomas will be keen to lay down an early marker for the Americans with a win on the Albatros Course. It’s great to see him play in Europe and it’ll be interesting to see how he copes with the pressure of representing the States three months out from the Transatlantic shootout.
In terms of the European challenge it’s hard to look past Fleetwood, who was runner-up to Brooks Koepka in the US Open just a fortnight ago.
Fleetwood won here last year with a final round 66 and he’s bidding to become the first player to successfully defend a Rolex Series title.
I find it astonishing 2017 Masters champion Garcia is making his first ever appearance at the Open de France.
With four missed cuts in his last six outings, Sergio needs a big performance to get his season back on track. His last top-10 finish was at the Valspar back in March.
There’s no doubt his putting is holding him back, but if he can rectify that he can have a good summer.
Fellow Spaniard Rahm is targeting a few big weeks in Europe and he enjoyed his debut here last year with a T10, so I expect a big week from the World No5.
Closer to home, I wouldn’t look beyond Shane Lowry, who made his first cut as a pro here in 2009, a result that kickstarted his career.
Paris will hold special memories for Lowry and he does tick a lot of boxes on a course that requires a strong short game and rewards ball striking and scrambling.
With 12 of the world’s top 50 players chasing the $7m prize pot, it’ll be tough to come out on top, and Paris is a course that has a habit of throwing up surprise winners.
For every Montgomerie, Jimenez and Kaymer, a John Bickerton, Philip Golding or Malcolm Mackenzie have won here in the recent past.
Le Golf National also boasts an incredible four hole finish of risk and reward, so it’s never over until the last putt drops.
The outsiders will hope to shine, but with the Ryder Cup looming, it’s a chance for Thomas and the rest of the star cast to take centre stage.