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It was a long time coming, but Nicolas Colsaerts won his first European Tour title since 2012 at the Amundi Open de France on Sunday.
Colsaerts shots 67-66-67-72 for a 12-under-par 272 total at Le Golf National in Paris and finished one stroke ahead of Denmark’s Joachim B. Hansen.
Colsaerts, a 36-year-old Belgian, entered the final round with a three-stroke lead and quickly extended it to five in wet conditions. But the leaderboard subsequently tightened up.
After Colsaerts made three bogeys in the middle of his round, South African George Coetzee led by two with six holes to play. But Colsaerts stormed back into the lead with a birdie at No. 13 and a chip-in eagle at No. 14 before falling back again with a double bogey at No. 15, where his second shot found the water.
Coetzee had trouble of his own at 15, hitting two balls in the water and running up a triple-bogey 7, which left Hansen in the driver’s seat. But Hansen's double bogey on the par-4 17th – where the 29-year-old came up just short of the green and took four to get down – opened the door again for Colsaerts, who parred the last three holes to clinch the title.
With the victory, his third on the European Tour and first since the 2012 Volvo World Match Play Championship, Colsaerts secured his tour card for the next two seasons. He had entered the tournament 114th in the Race to Dubai rankings and in danger of losing his playing privileges.
“It’s very, very special,” Colsaerts said. “The French Open for me is very special because I’m French speaking.
“I’ve been coming here for I don’t know how many years, it’s been a long road. So many people have supported me over the years. That’s why I get so emotional. I went through ups and downs for so many years now.
“We knew the last four holes are always pretty dramatic, I proved it with hitting it in the water on 15. I don’t know what happened on 17 with (Hansen) but it was a bit of a surprise when I got onto the green. I thought I was still going to be one behind.”
Hansen, otherwise navigating the difficult conditions steadily in pursuit of his first European Tour victory, shot a closing 68, while Coetzee finished third at 10 under after a 71.
American Kurt Kitayama (closing 71) finished fourth at 9 under, notching his second consecutive top-five finish.
German Martin Kaymer (70), Scotsman Richie Ramsay (71) and Irishman Gavin Moynihan (71) tied for fifth place, another stroke back.
RESULTS | RACE TO DUBAI
Staff and Wire Reports