Tommy Fleetwood won the French Open by one shot and moved top of the Race for Dubai standings after a stunning five-under-par final round in Paris.
The Englishman had a flawless final day at Paris National to secure his third European Tour victory.
American Peter Uihlein was chasing Fleetwood down on his final hole, but needed to chip in from the bunker to take it to a play-off. But his shot went wide of the hole and Fleetwood, in the clubhouse watching on TV, hugged his family as he prepared to lift the cup.
Fleetwood began the final round a shot off the lead, but quickly wiped out his deficit after coming within a fraction of an inch of spinning his tee shot on the second back into the hole for an ace. A two-putt birdie on the par-five third took Fleetwood into the lead, and another on the ninth restored his advantage after Sweden’s Alexander Bjork recovered from a bogey on the first with birdies on the fifth and seventh.
Fleetwood then moved further ahead with birdies on the 13th and 14th, and although Uihlein picked up shots on the same holes, and piled on the pressure with a birdie on the 17th, the American could not hole a bunker shot on the 18th to force a play-off.
“I can’t believe how close he got,” added 26-year-old Fleetwood. “On 14 I tapped in and I was four clear, and finishing with four pars round here I didn’t think I’d be scratching the win by a shot.”
Fleetwood, who has now moved up to a career high 15th in the world rankings, has reaped the rewards of returning to his former coach Alan Thompson and followed his second European Tour victory in Abu Dhabi in January by finishing fourth in the US Open last month.
“When it all got talked about last year, everybody knew these were the tournaments you wanted to play well in,” Fleetwood said after collecting the trophy and career-best first prize of £915,000, eclipsing the £850,000 he won by finishing second to world number one Dustin Johnson in the WGC-Mexico Championship in March.
“To win a Rolex Series event, knowing how big the stature is of everything now is a big deal for me. I played great today, felt comfy again and it’s always great to test your game and test what you work on every day under the ultimate pressure.”
Uihlein had the consolation of sealing his place at Royal Birkdale via the Open qualifying series, with Bjork and Mike Lorenzo-Vera claiming the other two berths available in a share of third place with Thorbjorn Olesen, who was already exempt.
Fleetwood described ending the year as European number one by winning the Race to Dubai as “an ultimate dream”, although he is scheduled to contest the Irish and Scottish Opens before heading home for the Open.
“It’s going to be a massive week for me,” said Fleetwood, who grew up just yards from the course at Royal Birkdale. “I’m going to be playing in front of crowds that I never have before and people that you have grown up with. It’s going to be an amazing experience from start to finish. Whether I do well or do bad I’m going to have a lot of people rooting for me and that’s going to be lovely.”
“Life’s just been great. I’m engaged, expecting a baby, my fiance is my manager, my caddie’s one of my best mates in the world. Thommo I think is the best coach in the world – everybody around me I have really strong relationships with and when you enjoy doing your job, that’s a massive positive.”