Fitzpatrick holds off chasers with short game magic to win Open de France
Alex Fitzpatrick. Picture: Getty Images
Matt Fitzpatrick produced a magical short game display to hold off the chasing pack and win the FedEx Open de France by three strokes.
The world number four went into the final round five shots clear of France's Tom Vaillant at Le Golf National as he bid to add an 11th DP World Tour win to three PGA Tour victories already this season.
But Spain's Eugenio Chacarra and Norway's Kristoffer Reitan put the Englishman under pressure, forcing him to get up and down for par eight times in his first 12 holes en route to a one-under 70 and a three-shot win on 20-under par.
"Obviously, delighted to get it over the line," said Fitzpatrick, who saw Chacarra get to within two strokes after nine holes and Reitan within three early on the back nine before both faltered and he birdied the 13th and 15th to ease clear.
"It was definitely a battle today. Didn't have our best stuff for the first 12 holes, and then managed to find some of our best stuff."
Fitzpatrick made just one bogey over the first three rounds, but he had to get up and down for pars at the 10th and 11th and again at the 12th to maintain a cushion.
In the end, Chacarra double-bogeyed the 13th and while Reitan was just three strokes behind, Fitzpatrick hit a 179-yard approach to two feet at the 13th to set up his first birdie of the day and never looked back.
The Norwegian went on to bogey at the 15th and 17th, and Fitzpatrick rolled in a 15-footer at the 15th to stretch his lead to five shots.
He went on to make only his second bogey of the week at the 18th, but a 70 gave him a three-shot win over Spain's Angel Hidalgo, who shot 67 to claim a place in The Open at St Andrews next July.
"Obviously a lot of patience," Fitzpatrick said of the key to his win. "It's a game of multiple skills, and I used them all this week.
"I felt like the first 12 was a battle. I didn't have my best stuff. Different wind direction kind of threw me off a little bit today, and yeah, just felt like coming down the stretch there to take the shots that I did and make the putts I did was special."
Vaillant (70) birdied the 18th to share third with Reitan (69), Chacarra (69) and compatriot Matthieu Pavon (64) on 15-under, six behind Fitzpatrick.
In Milan, South Africa's Casandra Alexander stretched her lead at the top of the LET Order of Merit when she birdied three of her last four holes to win the Buccellati Ladies Italian Open.
The KPMG Women's Irish Open champion won by three shots over Germany's Sophie Hausmann (64) and American Anna Morgan (69) on 12-under.
Douglas' Sara Byrne also finished strongly, carding a bogey-free three-under 69 to finish 23rd on two-under and jump three spots to 59th in the Order of Merit race to make the top 70 who keep their cards.
Meanwhile, Rowan Lester tied for 41st in the Sunshine Tour's Rwanda Open at Kigali Golf Resort.
A closing 70 left him 17 strokes behind South Africa's Kyle De Beer at 10-under, as Liam Grehan claimed 50th at six-under.
