Colsaerts takes French crown
• Belgian Ryder Cup star will keep his Tour place after one-shot victory
Former Ryder Cup star Nicolas Colsaerts ended a seven-year winless run on the European Tour with a dramatic one-shot victory at the Amundi Open de France yesterday.
The Belgian had last triumphed at the 2012 Volvo World Match Play Championship, four months before he was in the European team that famously came back from 10-4 down to lift the Ryder Cup in the Miracle at Medinah.
He arrived at Le Golf National battling to keep his place on tour for 2020 after only one top-ten finish on the 2019 Race to Dubai.
He carded a closing one-over-par 72 in Paris but that was enough to move him to 12 under and hold off the challenge of Dane Joachim B Hansen.
“It’s super special,” he said. “I’ve been coming here for so long and missed out a bunch of times. To do this like this where at the end it was pretty dramatic, makes it even better. I was kind of looking for a week like this where everything sort of clicked together. I don’t really have a week like that for a long, long time.”
Hansen carded a closing 68 to finish a shot ahead of Coetzee and two clear of American Kurt Kitayama.
Ireland’s Gavin Moynihan and Scot Richie ram say were in the group at eight under alongside two-time major champion Martin Kaymer.
• Justin Thomas carded a final-round 67 to win the CJ Cup for the second time in three years in South Korea.
The American made seven birdies and two bogeys to move to 20 under and claim victory by two shots from Danny Lee the South Korean-born New Zealander.
Englishman Tyrrell Hatton was tied for sixth with Byeong Hun An, seven shots behind Thomas, while Jordan Spieth was 12 under with Graeme Mcdowell and Ian Poulter a further two shots back.
• Danielle Kang shot a 2 under 70 to win the Buick LPGA Shanghai for the second consecutive year yesterday with a tournament record 16-under par 272, as compatriot Jessica Korda shot 72 to finish second at 15 under and Liu Yu of China, Japan’s Nasa Hataoka and LPGA rookie Kristen Gillman tied for third at 13 under.