The European Tour stops in France this week and a strong field will battle it out for the Alstom Open de France title and the 500,000 euros first prize.
Miguel Angel Jimenez will defend the crown he won last year, with plenty of strong contenders set to push the Spaniard, including Bubba Watson, as the American makes a rare appearance in Europe.
Here are three players we feel can top the leaderboard come Sunday afternoon.
Francesco Molinari
The Italian lost in a play-off to Jimenez in 2010 and the Ryder Cup star has the game suited for another strong challenge this year. Molinari, who has had an inconsistent season to date, will look to become the first Italian since Costantino Rocca in 1993 to win the tournament.
The 28-year-old has recorded three top-10s in stroke-play events in 2011, but has suffered missed cuts in the first two majors of the year. A second round 66 at last week’s BMW International shows he is on the rights tracks, and his straight hitting should see him amongst the challengers at the par-71 Le Golf National.
Molinari – Outright Winner @ 25/1
Peter Hanson
Hanson is on top form at present and it seems just a matter of time before the Swede finds himself in the winner’s enclosure. The 33-year-old has four top-ten finishes to his name in 2011 and his finished in the top 20 in his last three events.
Having secured seventh spot at the US Open, Hanson decided to take a week’s break and will come into the Open de France fresh and raring to go. The Swede finished sixth in the French capital last year and expect another strong finish this week.
Hanson – Outright Winner @ 12/1
Richard Green
The left-hander is a previous runner-up in the French Open, in 2004, and clearly has a liking for the layout of the course. Weekend rounds of 67 and 68 helped him to a 12th placed-finish in Germany last week and he come into this tournament full of confidence.
Green, a winner on the European Tour last year, finished 32nd in Paris in 2010, which was mainly due to a disappointing opening round of 73. The 40-year-old is not the longest hitter, but Jimenez showed last year that length is not a crucial factor around Le Golf National.
72-Hole Match – Green 5/6, E Molinari Evs, Tie 14/1
