Photo: DR

With ten players from the top 50 in the world, seven winners of the last Ryder Cup and thirteen tournament winners on the European Tour since the start of the season, the field of players present this year at Golf National looks great. After his two successes in 2013 and 2014, Graeme McDowell is naturally back with the ambition to achieve the first hat-trick in the history of the tournament since that of the French Marcel Dallemagne between 1936 and 1938. “I've always liked coming here, but this year, with the possibility of a treble, it's even more special. I haven't played very well in recent weeks, but there is no better time to find my best golf », says the Northern Irishman. He will begin his quest for a third title this Thursday from 13:30 p.m. in the company of Englishman Lee Westwood and Habs Alexander Levy.

Westwood, beaten in the play-off by Martin Kaymer in the 2009 edition, is back at the Golf National for the first time since 2012. The Briton with twenty-three titles on the European circuit does not hide his joy to be here: “I missed not playing this tournament anymore. It's a prestigious event, and the route suits me. I also wanted to have a week off before the British Open in two weeks, so it's perfect preparation to play the French Open this week. "

His executioner from six years ago is present for the ninth consecutive year, and his speech does not change one iota: “I've always said it was the best course of the whole year. I appreciate it and I have already won. I feel good here, and there is no reason that I am not playing well this year. " The German with two Major titles (USPGA Championship 2010, US Open 2014) will start in the morning, at 8:30 am, alongside Welshman Jamie Donaldson and Frenchman Victor Dubuisson.

Dubuisson and Levy, ranked respectively 37th and 61st in the world, are the two main headliners for the French contingent, with twenty-nine representatives. On a course where neither one nor the other has ever really shone, the Cannois and the Toulonnais know they are nevertheless eagerly awaited by the public. “Winning is the ambition of each player at the start of each tournament. But the course of the Albatross is formidable, undoubtedly the most demanding which presents itself to us over the whole season of the European circuit. On this track, the slightest missed shot immediately costs two or three points. To be able to master it, you have to be able to play four laps in the par or below, ” warns Dubuisson. “You can see that all the players are struggling to play their national open, whether it is Martin Kaymer last week in Munich or Rory McIlroy at his home at the end of May. After that we know that the Golf National is a very complicated course, and if we play a little less well it will be very difficult. But it makes me really happy to be there, and to play with great players, ” complete Levy.

For more information on the Alstom Open de France, www.alstom.opendefrance.fr