01피츠패트릭, 2라운드 마친 뒤 단독 선두 도약
영국의 맷 피츠패트릭이 프랑스 르 골프 나시오날에서 열린 DP 월드 투어 페덱스 오픈 드 프랑스 2라운드를 마친 뒤 단독 선두에 올랐다. 피츠패트릭은 이날 5언더파 66타를 기록, 중간 합계 10언더파 132타로 2위 그룹에 2타 차 앞선 채 주말로 향한다.
전날 1라운드에서 5언더파 66타로 공동 선두에 올랐던 피츠패트릭은 이날도 보기 없이 버디만 5개를 낚는 완벽한 플레이를 펼쳤다. 특히 10번 홀(파4)부터 13번 홀(파5)까지 4개 홀 연속 버디를 잡아내며 순위를 끌어올렸다.
2위 그룹에는 덴마크의 라스무스 호이, 스코틀랜드의 코너 사임, 프랑스의 알렉산더 레비 등 3명이 8언더파 134타로 포진해 있다. 디펜딩 챔피언인 니콜라스 콜사에츠는 4언더파 138타로 공동 12위에 머물렀다.
피츠패트릭은 이번 대회 우승 시 2023년 US 오픈 챔피언에 이어 DP 월드 투어 통산 9승째를 거두게 된다. 3라운드는 현지 시간 토요일 오전 10시 30분(한국 시간 오후 5시 30분)부터 시작된다.
02Original (English) — DP World Tour
Matt Fitzpatrick took a stranglehold on the 2026 FedEx Open de France as a brilliant third round of 65 carried him to 19 under par.
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Seven birdies more than offset the Englishman's first bogey of the week as he led by five strokes from Tom Vaillant, who enjoyed loud support from the home crowd at Le Golf National.
Fitzpatrick said: "I feel like I'm in a position that if I go and shoot a good round tomorrow, then obviously it makes it almost impossible to catch. But long way to go, and just take it hole by hole."
Vaillant shot 67 to nudge ahead of a large group at 13 under - including Eugenio Chacarra, whose 62 was the lowest round of the week, and Brandon Stone who shot 63.
Nine players had still to complete their second rounds when play was suspended on Friday and Scotland's Daniel Young made the best of the resumption - a birdie at the ninth, his final hole, saw him make the cut exactly on the three-under-par line.
South Africa's Stone made a flying start to Moving Day with four birdies in his first five holes to reach nine under, while Englishman Sam Bairstow birdied his first three to join him four off Fitzpatrick's overnight lead.
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Fitzpatrick began with a birdie after an approach to seven feet, while Angel Hidalgo and home favourite Vaillant made early birdies to join Fitzpatrick's playing partner Michael Kim in third on 11 under and Stone picked up yet another shot at the tenth.
Vaillant advanced to 12 under with a second successive birdie at the fourth but remained three behind Fitzpatrick, who lagged his long eagle putt at the third to three feet to set up a simple birdie and then made a good up-and-down from a bunker at the next to stay bogey-free for the week.
Another birdie at the sixth took Fitzpatrick three clear but he dropped his first shot of the tournament at the eighth.
Guido Migliozzi was rivalling Stone's charge up the leaderboard. The Italian had five birdies in his first seven holes having started on the tenth and though he gave one back at the 17th, he began the front nine with another three birdies in four holes. That left him seven under for the day and 11 under for the week, where he joined compatriot Francesco Laporta.
South Africa's Ockie Strydom was another player making a charge, with six birdies in nine holes from the sixth to reach 12 under and a share of third.
Fitzpatrick's short game remained on point with a good chip at the ninth to set up another birdie. Kim went even closer and Jeff Winther made it a full house of birdies for the leading group.
Vaillant holed a nerveless 12-footer at the tenth, his fist-pump showing the importance of a par that kept him in touch, as he and Kim were joined at 13 under by Hidalgo and Stone after back-to-back birdies for both - Stone setting the clubhouse target in the process.
Winther and Kim both birdied the tenth to close the gap on Fitzpatrick, Kim via a wonderful approach inside three feet. Fitzpatrick responded at the next, pulling away from his birdie putt before re-settling himself and holing for birdie.
Kristoffer Reitan was also in contention and went close to a hole-out eagle at the 12th, where his fourth birdie of the day took him to 12 under.
Vaillant and Hidalgo remained 13 under after their birdie putts just stayed up at the 12th. Kim briefly fell back to join them with a bogey at the same hole, but holed from 18 feet to birdie the 13th - where Fitzpatrick matched his scored to move three clear on 18 under.
Hidalgo birdied the 14th, going close to an eagle, and Vaillant birdied the 15th to also reach 14 under. That left them sharing second alongside Kim after Winther found thick rough beside the 14th green, was unable to blast out and made a double bogey.
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Chacarra produced a birdie-eagle finish on the eighth and ninth to cap a superb round featuring a further six birdies and join Stone in the clubhouse on 13 under.
A birdie at the 15th stretched Fitzpatrick's lead to five, with Hidalgo dropping out of the tie for second after a bogey up ahead at the 16th - his first in 39 holes.
And he parred the last three, with Kim's closing double bogey leaving Vaillant alone in second.
Fitzpatrick said: "Just another really, really solid day. I felt really comfortable out there.
"I think to birdie the first, it's always nice to kind of get off to a nice start like that. And then two-under through three, and you can kind of kick on from there. And I felt like that my game was pretty solid all day.
"I was disappointed to drop my one shot, to be honest. It will kind of stick with me."
The Open de France is continental Europe's longest-established DP World Tour event and Fitzpatrick, who matched Seve Ballesteros in 1985 for the tournament's lowest 54-hole total, added: "It would be amazing to be part of the history. I said at the start of the week, this tournament has a lot of history and a lot of great winners.
"I think it was my second professional start as well. So, you know, some form of connection here as well."
Stone and Chacarra were alongside Reitan, Hidalgo and Winther at 13 under. A shot further back were Kim, German veteran Marcel Siem, Italian pair Migliozzi and Gregorio De Leo and Englishmen Sam Bairstow and Joe Dean.
Fitzpatrick's compatriot and Ryder Cup team-mate Tommy Fleetwood, the 2017 champion, was six under after Friday's round but was forced to withdraw before Saturday's tee time due to illness.
Report
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