The northern English county of Yorkshire is not small at nearly 4,600 square miles and with a population of more than 5 million. Nor is it a region short of confidence, given that it self-identifies as “God’s own country.”
All the same, there can be little doubt that in recent years it has consistently punched above its weight in the world of golf. Dan Bradbury’s victory in last week’s Open de France at Le Golf National near Paris has added to the county’s growing list of honours.
The 25-year-old Bradbury, who attended university at Lincoln Memorial and Florida State, made a bold start to his professional career by winning the 2022 Joburg Open on just his third DP World Tour start.
He also finished third on defence of that title last November but had made only one top 20 since, and he recently turned to a long-handled putter in exasperation at his inability to make the most of a solid tee-to-green game.
In the French capital, that decision bore fruit in spectacular style. He carded rounds of 67-66 to tie the halfway lead but fell two shots back of the 54-hole Swedish pacesetter Jesper Svensson with a Saturday 69.
A birdie at the first hole on Sunday revived Bradbury’s bid for the title in a dizzying final round that at one stage, with the final three-ball on the ninth green, had an 11-way tie at the top of the leaderboard.
There was inevitable talk that the tournament would require extra holes, and yet one of the curious paradoxes of cluttered leaderboards is that they require playoffs much less often than is assumed.
“I got lucky off the tee after pushing the drive, but I’ve had a few bad breaks this week so I was due one.”
Dan Bradbury
On this occasion, it was Bradbury who emerged from a logjam courtesy of a trio of birdies from the 14th followed by two nerve-shredding pars to close.
The key hole was probably the 15th, protected by water down the right of the fairway and also short and right of the green. The eventual winner later laughed about the fortuitous nature of his par breaker there.
“I got lucky off the tee after pushing the drive, but I’ve had a few bad breaks this week so I was due one,” he said. “With the approach I straight up pushed it again, and luckily it stayed on the green. Then I hit an horrendous putt, and it went in. Sometimes you just need that bit of luck.”
He removed fortune from the equation with a superb tee shot at the par-3 16th to 15 feet and drained the putt for birdie and what would prove to be the winning margin. A smartly scrambled par at 17 and 4-foot par putt at the last were also crucial as he completed a winning total of 16-under 268.
Four men shared second on 15 under: Denmark’s Thorbjørn Olesen, for whom this was a third top-three finish in the tournament; his compatriot Jeff Winther, who fired a final-round joint best-of-the-day 64; Germany’s Yannik Paul; and English rookie Sam Bairstow.
Bairstow is not only a compatriot of Bradbury but yet another Yorkshireman. The pair are seeking to emulate Danny Willett and Matt Fitzpatrick in becoming regular DP World Tour winners and maybe one day also record major-championship success.
Fitzpatrick’s younger brother, Alex, is also now settled on the DP World Tour, and this year’s Open first-round leader, and winner of last year’s ISPS Handa Invitational, Daniel Brown is yet another son of Yorkshire. Harrogate’s John Parry, a winner on the DP World Tour in 2010, has earned an in-season promotion from the Challenge Tour with three wins this season.
Once famous for its coal, Yorkshire is now mining a rich seam of golfing talent.
Matt Cooper