Fleetwood in the form of his life as he wins in Paris

Tommy Fleetwood will head into the Open Championship later this month in the form of his life after claiming a second victory of the season in the HNA Open de France yesterday.

Fleetwood carded a flawless final round of 66 at 2018 Ryder Cup venue Le Golf National to finish 12 under par, a shot ahead of overnight joint-leader Peter Uihlein.

The 26-year-old, who used to sneak on to the Open venue of Royal Birkdale as a kid, was a lowly 188th in the world last September, but will be a career-high 15th when the rankings are updated today.

Olympic champion Justin Rose is now the only English player ranked higher than Fleetwood, who also moved above Masters champion Sergio Garcia to the top of the Race to Dubai.

Fleetwood has reaped the rewards of returning to his former coach Alan Thompson and followed his second European Tour victory in Abu Dhabi in January by finishing fourth in the US Open last month.

“When it all got talked about last year, everybody knew these were the tournaments you wanted to play well in,” Fleetwood said after collecting the trophy and careerbest first prize of £915,000, eclipsing the £850,000 he won by finishing second to world No 1 Dustin Johnson in the WGC-Mexico Championship in March.

“To win a Rolex Series event, knowing how big the stature is of everything now is a big deal for me. I played great today, felt comfy again and it’s always great to test your game and test what you work on every day under the ultimate pressure.

“Life’s just been great. I’m engaged, expecting a baby, my fiancée is my manager, my caddie’s one of my best mates in the world.”

Fleetwood described ending the year as European number one by winning the Race to Dubai as “an ultimate dream”, although he is scheduled to contest the Irish and Scottish Opens before heading home for the Open.

“It’s going to be a massive week for me. I’m going to be playing in front of crowds that I never have before and people that you have grown up with,” he said.

Uihlein had the consolation of sealing his place at Royal Birkdale via the Open qualifying series, with Bjork and Mike Lorenzo-Vera claiming the other two berths available in a share of third with Thorbjorn Olesen, who was already exempt.

Scot David Drysdale carded a closing round 72 to finish on threeunder par – nine shots off the lead – and two behind Jon Rahm and Lee Westwood and one off Andy Sullivan and Thomas Pieters.