Half of the players completed their first round of the French Open on Thursday and Paul Barjon played the best provisional card (65, -6). Matthieu Pavon is only two strokes behind his compatriot, while Patrick Reed went over par.
Paul Barjon (65, -6), leader after his first round one step ahead of Jamie Donaldson and James Morrison: “A good start, a great shot, a bit like my recon game on Wednesday. The shots come out the way I want, a bit like on console. The tournament is long, one day is fine, but you have to do four good ones to lift the trophy. I don’t have a lot of pressure unlike those who have to keep their card on the European Tour: I have to win. »
Matthieu Pavon (68, -3), well into two headers: “I’m kind of a continuation of Wentworth, where I hit the ball really well in the last couple of laps. It was good there, there were very, very solid passages. There were 2, 3 great iron shots with a lot of intensity. The course is oppressive on several holes and unfortunately I lost one or two points. But overall it was a good game, a solid game. It must be my best card at the French Open, or even during my practice sessions at Golf National. »
Patrick Reed (73, +2), after a double bogey on the 15th and three bogeys to finish: “I passed the outbound trip in -1 somewhat miraculously. Then on the lap, when I was just going to -3 after my birdie on the 14th, I missed two lefts that cost me a lot, leaving me with really complicated approaches, even worse with a ball in the water on the 15th. Success left me a little. also, with a couple of putts that missed the mark. »
In the second half of the field, still at stake, the Swedish Alexander Björk (-3) and the Danish Rasmus Hojgaard (-5) achieved a promising first leg that could disrupt the hierarchy of this first round.