As another marquee tournament of the DP World Tour prepares for its final round, it’s all to play for as Jesper Svensson holds a slim one shot lead with just eighteen holes to play.
With the betting for the day set to be tight, nine players will start within three shots of the lead and as Scottie Scheffler showed back in August at the Olympics, there is a low score that can be found and someone can come from off the pace to win.
Ahead of what could be a landmark day for several players, here are some of the day’s main talking points.
Jesper Svensson is aiming to play himself back into Race to Dubai contention
It’s been a year to remember for Jesper Svensson. Starting the season as someone who was largely unknown, the Swede has had a solid year and through much of the year has found himself ranked within the top five of the Race to Dubai standings.
A winner of his first DP World Tour event earlier this year at the Porsche Singapore Classic, he also finished second at the Investec Championship, Bahrain Championship and Czech Masters.
On track to claim one of the ten PGA Tour spots available for those who finish high up the European Order of Merit, the last few weeks have been tricky for the young Swede who missed the cut at both the European Masters and BMW PGA Championship. He did make the cut in Scotland at the Alfred Dunhill Links but finished well down the field in a tie for 54th.
Now ranked ninth in the Race to Dubai standings and in need of a big finish to end his season strongly, Svensson has found the set up at Le Golf National exactly to his liking and after a third round 67, he finds himself out in front leading by one.
Having emerged as a real force on the DP World Tour this season, landing the French Open would be the biggest title of his career. In what could be a defining day for the young Swede it will be fascinating to see how he handles the occasion.
Thorbjorn Olesen aims to capture ninth DP World Tour title
Over the last decade or so, Thirbjorn Olesen has been one of the most consistent players on the DP World Tour. A winner of eight titles, he has captured some huge tournaments including the Italian Open, Alfred Dunhill and the British Masters.
Although he has never won the French Open before, he has fond memories of Le Golf National having played his part in Europe’s successful 2018 Ryder Cup victory over America.
A winner earlier this season down in Kuwait, the Dane hasn’t been able to post a top ten since but does have two top fifteen finishes in two of his last three starts and he did win the Pro-Am event at the Alfred Dunhill Links.
Set to start just one shot behind Svensson today, he climbed up the leaderboard yesterday courtesy of a bogey free round of 71. A repeat of that effort today will see him go close and he could find himself with title number 9 in his hands.
Sam Bairstow aims to announce himself to the golfing world
Starting level with Olesen today is Sam Bairstow. Ranked 239 in the world, this has been the best week of Bairstow’s career by far and he will know that a win today would take his career into an entirely different stratosphere.
Having steadily climbed the rankings this year, the young Englishman’s previous best effort on tour came at the Singapore Classic where he was able to finish third.
Ranked 55th in the Race to Dubai Standings, Bairstow knows that a good performance here could be enough to send him into the top 50 and with it qualification for the season ending DP World Tour Championship.
He finds himself in this position courtesy of a great third round which saw him power up the leaderboard thanks to a brilliant bogey free 65 which included five picked up shots on his back nine.
Coming into today's final round with all of the momentum, Bairstow will hope to lean on his experiences from Singapore to hopefully go one better this time around.
Beyond the top 3 who else could play a part today?
There are plenty of other names to keep an eye on today and plenty of value that can be found if you fancy placing a bet.
Dan Bradbury was our leader through the first two rounds thanks to rounds of 67 and 66, but his third round 69 wasn’t enough for him to keep his spot on top and he will tee off today three behind the lead held by Svensson.
Having found the course to his liking so far, the world number 303 knows that he is capable of posting a low number today, but whether he can wrestle back the momentum remains to be seen.
One name that most near the top of the leaderboard will fear is Rasmus Hojgaard. The Dane is currently enjoying a rich run of form and was able to capture last month’s Irish Open crown.
Containing awesome power and ball striking abilities, Hojgaard has played well at this tournament in the past finishing as the runner up back in 2023. When on his game, very few can match his scoring and he won’t have any fears with starting five strokes off the leaders.
Hoping to get off to a quick start, he could be one of the best value angles of the day.
(Image by rasmushoejgaard)
French Open 2024 - Final Round Betting
If you fancy placing a bet ahead of the final round of the 2024 French Open here are the latest odds.
Jesper Svensson - 3/1
Throbjorn Olesen - 3/1
Sam Bairstow - 13/2
Joe Dean - 11/1
Dan Bradbury - 11/1
Yannik Paul - 14/1
Matthew Jordan - 18/1
Rasmus Hojgaard - 18/1
Francesco Laporta - 28/1
Jack Hartman
A keen golfer and huge fan of the game, Jack has been covering golf for the last five years. Bringing you all the latest coverage and news from the PGA, LIV, LPGA and DP World Tours, never before has golf been so popular and Jack can’t wait to bring all the excitement to his readers.
