Frittelli leads SA charge in France

Dylan Frittelli will lead a 15-strong South African contingent at the 101st Open de France at the Le Golf National, site of the 2018 Ryder Cup.

Frittelli’s impressive season, which includes his maiden European Tour win in Austria a few weeks ago, has helped him to 17th in the Race to Dubai and 74th in the world rankings. The 27-year-old University of Texas alumnus is the highest-ranked South African this week, but is the 19th best in a strong field following its addition to the Rolex Series.

Arguably the biggest name in the field is fiery Spaniard Jon Rahm. The PGA TOUR member will be making his debut on the European Tour, and will tee it up alongside home favourite Alex Levy and in-form Englishman Tommy Fleetwood.

BMW PGA Champion Alex Noren, now eighth in the world, is the top-ranked player this week and will look to see off the threat posed by Tyrrell Hatton, Thomas Pieters and Francesco Molinari. Former champion Graeme McDowell is also in this field alongside Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke.

Le Golf National hosts the event for the 25th time, with the Open de France the only national open in Continental Europe to have been played more than 100 times. Set to host the biennial Ryder Cup next year, Le Golf National is a lush, sprawling property with stadium views, slick greens, undulating fairways, plus innumerable links-style bunkers and a variety of different size water hazards. Indeed, water comes into play on no fewer than six holes.

Measuring 7247 yards and playing to a par of 71, the venue recently undertook major renovations with new drainage irrigation, lake edging and bunkering as well landscaping, hospitality platforms and road construction in preparation for the 2018 Ryder Cup.

Frittelli is joined in the field by last week’s BMW International Open top-10 finisher Hennie Otto, Brandon Stone, Haydn Porteous and former Masters winner Trevor Immelman.

Big-hitting Dean Burmester is 24th in the Race to Dubai and will tee off at 13:10 alongside Ross Fisher and Shane Lowery.

First round tee times: