French Open – final round
-20 M Fitzpatrick (Eng); -17 A Hidalgo (Esp); -15 M Pavon (Fra), T Vaillant (Fra), K Reitan (Nor), E Lopez-Chacarra
Selected others: -12 L Aaberg (Swe); -10 E Ferguson (Sco), D Bradbury (Eng); -7 E Molinari (Ita), V Hovland (Nor)
England’s Matt Fitzpatrick secured his fourth title of the season with a three-shot win at the French Open in Paris.
Fitzpatrick carded a one-under-par 70 to hold off the challenge of Spain’s Angel Hidalgo at Le Golf National.
The 32-year-old has already won the Valspar Championship and RBC Heritage titles on the PGA Tour this year, as well as the Zurich Classic team event in New Orleans alongside younger brother Alex.
He led by five shots going into the final day, but a run of 12 successive pars allowed the chasing pack to cut that advantage to two.
However, crucial birdies on the 13th and 15th pushed Fitzpatrick further clear and even a bogey at the last could not deny him an 11th European Tour title.
“Delighted to get it over the line, it was definitely a battle today,” he said.
“I didn’t have my best stuff for the first 12 holes and then managed to find some of my best stuff.
“In a way I was quite lucky – I left myself in some nice spots where you can still get up and down from, but I fully took advantage of that and did really well.”
Matthieu Pavon shot the best round of the day, with a seven-under 64 ensuring he finished tied for fourth alongside French compatriot Tom Vaillant, Spain’s Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra and Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan.
