Announced one by one in recent months, the main stars of the French Open are already well known. At the top of the bill, Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy, world number 3 and winner of four major tournaments, will undoubtedly be the most followed player of the week. Among his main competitors, the Englishman Danny Willett, recent winner of the Masters in Augusta, will appear as number 1 challenger as the 9th player in the global ranking.

At the start of the oldest national open in continental Europe, we will also find Major winners such as the German Martin Kaymer and the Northern Irishman Graeme McDowell. These two players also have in common having already lifted the Stoïber Cup, presented to the winner of the French Open: in 2009 for the first, and 2013 and 2014 for the second. Veterans Darren Clarke (Northern Ireland), YE Yang (South Korea), Paul Lawrie (Scotland) and Mike Weir (Canada), holders of a Grand Slam title each, are joined by Irishman Padraig Harrington, who has three to its eloquent record.

Multiple Ryder Cup winners in recent years, McIlroy, Clarke, Harrington, Lawrie, McDowell and Kaymer will find on the course of the Albatross, played for the first time in Ryder Cup configuration after ten months of work, several of their former teammates , also sacred with the Old Continent: the English Lee Westwood, Luke Donald, Ross Fisher and David Howell, the Swedes Robert Karlsson, Niclas Fasth and Peter Hanson, the Dane Thomas Bjørn, the Scotsman Stephen Gallacher, the Welshman Jamie Donaldson, the Italian Francesco Molinari, the Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts and the French Victor Dubuisson. Only Briton Ian Poulter, who announced his visit to the French Open, is unlikely to be in the game due to a foot injury.

We should also mention the presence of some of the most promising world top 50 members: the Englishman Chris Wood, recent winner of the BMW PGA Championship; his compatriots Matthew Fitzpatrick, crowned in Sweden in early June, and Andy Sullivan, winner of three tournaments last season; the Thai Kiradech Aphibarnrat, double winner in 2015; Spaniard Rafael Cabrera-Bello and Dane Søren Kjeldsen, authors of an excellent first part of the season; the young Swede David Lingmerth, winner of a tournament on the American circuit last year; and finally the defending champion of the French Open, the Austrian Bernd Wiesberger.

To be complete finally, the French chances will be defended by a large contingent led by Dubuisson, and in which we will find the thirteen other French people evolving on the European Tour this season: Alexander Levy, Romain Wattel, Gary Stal, Grégory Bourdy, Julien Quesne , Benjamin Hébert, Michaël Lorenzo-Vera, Raphaël Jacquelin, Grégory Havret, Édouard España, Sébastien Gros, Thomas Linard and Clément Berardo.

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