Deja-vu for GMAC at Alstom

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Graeme McDowell will go in search of a successful title defence for the first time in his illustrious career at this week’s Alstom Open de France, but a world-class field stands between the Irishman and a repeat triumph at Le Golf National. 

The World Number 20 cruised to victory by four shots on the outskirts of Paris 12 months ago, but with his fellow Major Champion Martin Kaymer, rising star Victor Dubuisson and the current Race to Dubai leader Thomas Björn all amongst the protagonists, McDowell will be hard pushed to match the feats of Jean-François Remesy, the last player to mount a successful defence of the title in 2004-2005. 

McDowell’s last competitive appearance was in the Irish Open, where he narrowly missed out on delivering what would have been an emotional home victory. But a tied sixth finish was McDowell’s best performance in a stroke play event this season, and boosted his hopes of a fourth successive Ryder Cup appearance in September. 

Kaymer all but secured his place in Captain Paul McGinley’s team after his stunning US Open triumph, but the German – who took the Open de France title in 2009 after a play-off with Lee Westwood – will be keen to bounce back from a disappointing homecoming in last week’s BMW International Open, where he missed the cut. 

Björn, who was recently sidelined for three weeks with neck and shoulder injuries, fared rather better on his return to duty in Germany, recording his sixth top ten finish of a superb season to extend his lead over Kaymer at the top of The Race to Dubai to €62,126. 

But with a €3million prize fund available at the 98th edition of the Open de France, which was first played back in 1906, victory for Kaymer would see him usurp the Dane at the top of the standings. 

Fabrizio Zanotti will bid to become the first player to win back to back titles this season after his breakthrough victory in the BMW International Open. 

Having become the first Paraguayan to win on The European Tour, Zanotti will now hope to join a roll call of winners which includes no fewer than 20 Major Champions. 

Welshman Jamie Donaldson, currently in fourth place in The Race to Dubai, also arrives in Versailles in fine fettle after his tied fifth finish behind Zanotti in Cologne, where he missed out on making it a five-way play-off by a single stroke. 

The same applies to Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee, currently in a rich vein of form after claiming his fifth European Tour title in the recent Nordea Masters. 

Other notable names in the field include former winners Thomas Levet and Marcel Siem; European and US PGA Tour champion Kevin Stadler of America; rising English star Matthew Fitzpatrick, who continues his education in the professional ranks; and hot young French prospects Julien Brun and Jérôme Lando Casanova.

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Three Irish Remain in BMW Race

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Shane Lowry signed for a round of 68 and Michael Hoey 69 to remain three shots off the pace set by the four joint leaders at the BMW International Open in Cologne on Friday.

Lowry carded five birdies with only the one bogey on the par four 10t with Hoey mixing a triple bogey seven on the first hole, and three bogeys to damage a nine birdie. 

Damien McGrane shot 71 to make the cut at four-under- par.

Gareth Maybin, Kevin Phelan, Paul McGinley, Peter Lawrie and Simon Thornton missed the cut.

Rafa Cabrera-Bello and Pablo Larrazabal were joined at the head of the leaderboard on 12-under- par by 2012 BMW International Open champions Danny Willett and Argentina's Emiliano Grillo.

Six players, including Miguel Angel Jimenez were on 10-under-par, and Hoey and Lowry finished in a group of eight sitting just three shots back on nine under.

Martin Kaymer missed the cut by four shots on level-par 142.

Fellow German Marcel Siem looked like he might also miss the cut until a final flourish where he birdied five of the last six holes to not only make the cut but also force his way into contention at eight-under-par with a 66.

Of the leaders, Larrazabal made the greatest gain with a nine under par 63 to reach 12-under 132, a 36 hole total matched by Grillo with a 66, and the two overnight leaders Cabrera-Bello and Willett who shot matching 68s.

Cabrera-Bello had the misfortune of a double-hit out of the rough on the par five seventh hole, his 16th, but 68 kept him on track.

Willett, who was playing alongside Cabrera-Bello, then had to avoid calamity of his own shortly after – as they closed on the ninth – when he horribly shanked his approach.

The Englishman was lucky to clear water away to his right as his ball nestled near the 18th green. He pitched back over the lake to scramble par and stay level with Cabrera-Bello.

"I'm pleased with my score but more pleased with the way I played. I felt I played really well today. I was a little unlucky coming down the last few holes but overall pleased with minus four," said Cabrera-Bello.

David Higgins was a withdrawal in round 2.

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Hoey Scents Chance in Cologne

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Michael Hoey signed for six under par, 66, in the opening round of the BMW International Open in Cologne, to remain two strokes behind the joint leaders, England’s Danny Willett and Spain’s Rafa Cabrera Bello

Hoey carded six birdies on the first, third, fifth, 10th, 13th and 15th holes. 

Shane Lowry finished five under on 67 with eagle on the 13th and five birdies the highlights.

Kevin Phelan signed for a 68 including four birdies and level scores on the remaining holes.

Damien McGrane was a stroke further back after a round of 69. 

Gareth Maybin signed for a (71).

Paul McGinley rounded in 72 but along with Peter Lawrie on 73, David Higgins signing for 75 and Simon Thornton on 76 are on the wrong side of the projected cut line. All will need a good Friday to see weekend action.

Martin Kaymer’s return to action following the second major victory of his career gave his home crowd little to really cheer on the first day of the .

In perfect scoring conditions at Gut Larchenhof the German disappointingly found himself five shots off the early lead. Starting at the 10th, two birdies in three holes were quickly undone by a double bogey at the short 16th and another dropped shot at the 18th took him to the turn in one over.

Three successive birdies immediately got him back to two under but having hit his second into a greenside bunker at the 577-yard seventh he failed to get out of the trap from an awkward lie and bogeyed to finish one under.

Storm, by contrast, was bogey-free as, after reaching the turn at two under, he carded four birdies in five holes from the 11th to set the clubhouse lead at six under.

He was later joined by Hansen, who also did not drop a shot, Stal who got to seven under through 16 holes — including an eagle at the par-four ninth — before making his only bogey of the morning at the 17th, and Campillo.

Robert Karlsson, who started on the back nine, looked set for a low score after reaching the turn on five under but eight pars — interrupted by a dropped shot at the eighth — meant he finished the day two shots off the lead.

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Eagle Grants Stephen Hydro Chance

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Stephen Grant eagled his eighth hole carding a three on the par seventeenth hole on the Challenge Tour to finish Thursday on 67 strokes at the Scottish Hydro Challege and two shots off the leaders at the MacDonald Spey Valley Club

With three birdies in all, it was just the one dropped shot on  the par sixteenth for Grant.

Leader Mark Tullo soared into a share of the lead midway through the opening day, despite arriving at the ‘Home of Golf’ over 30 hours later than expected due to the airport strikes in France.

The Chilean carded a six under par opening round of 65 at the sun-kissed Macdonald Spey Valley Golf Club to join Englishman Jason Barnes at the top of the leaderboard, with the afternoon groups yet to finish.

The 36 year old, who claimed a tied third place finish in his last event at the Najeti Hotels et Golfs Open, teed off at the 11th and carded successive birdies at the 12th and 13th holes before another at the ninth took him to the turn in three under.

Three more birdies on the way home took him one shot clear alongside Barnes, and Tullo was delighted with his round, especially given he almost missed the tournament due to his travel woes.

“It’s amazing here in this weather,” said the two-time Challenge Tour winner, whose second victory came in Egypt with a certain Rory McIlroy in the field as an invite. “I actually barely recognized the golf course without the wind.

“For me, Scotland with sunny weather is one of the best places in the world. Playing golf here with this weather is just priceless. It’s still fun with wind and rain but in this weather, this golf course is amazing.

“It took me over 30 hours to get here from Malaga. I got here at 10pm last night. I was supposed to be here on Tuesday at 2pm, so it was a nightmare getting here. Luckily I had played here a couple of times before butt my hurts and my back hurts from sitting around for so long.

“I even thought about grabbing a train from London because I was worried I might not make the tournament but luckily enough I got here in the end.

“I know this place very well but it helped having good weather and I'm really happy with the round.

“I made some good shots and made some good putts. I didn’t even have a chance of a bogey out there.It was very steady, I hit every green. It was an easy scoring day for me, no mistakes, and hit 17 greens and made good birdies. 

“I've been playing good but my putting has been so so, but I've been working on it with my coach and it’s helped me to putt well. Hopefully the weather will help for the rest of the week. I'm feeling comfortable and calm.”

Barnes was also relishing the sunny weather in the holiday town of Aviemore and he was confident of keeping his good form going for the rest of the week.

“It’s a great place to be, beautiful. It’s much different to what I'm used to in London. I can’t hear anything, no traffic, no noise, it’s brilliant.

“I pulled out last year to get a week off because I wasn’t playing very well but I really regretted it. It’s a really nice place, it’s like a home from home.

“Everything is really coming together nicely for me. The confidence is starting to grow. There are a few holes out there that are tough driving holes and a few weeks ago I might have wimped out and hit less club just to hit the fairway but today it was just going for it with the driver.

“I'm confident, definitely. Bring on tomorrow, hopefully we can get more weather like this and we can see how low I go.”

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Shane Lowry Banking on BMW

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Shane Lowry is currently ranked19th in the Race to Dubai with earnings of €527,770 and needs a good week in Koln to secure a place in The Open Championship at Hoylake in three weeks.

The top five European Tour members and ties in the Race to Dubai standings next Sunday who are not already exempt will qualify for the British Open.

Since most of the golfers currently ahead of Lowry on the European Money List are already through, Lowry has to hold his place in the top 20 to be mathematically certain of making his third appearance in the Open.

Lowry gave his season a timely momentum boost by finishing second in the recent BMW PGA championship. Since then he has finished tied-25th in the Nordea Masters, and missed the weekend play in the US Open in Pinehurst and the following week at Fota Island at the Irish Open. 

There was good news on the commercial side also for Lowry after Bank of Ireland announced a sponsorship deal with the Irish which will run until the end of 2016.

Under the agreement, he will represent Bank of Ireland both as a brand ambassador in Ireland and as he competes across the world in the years ahead. He will sport its branding on the left chest of his golf apparel in addition to hosting a number of corporate events for the bank each year.

Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell, Padraig Harrington and Darren Clarke are all taking the week off, but there's a nine-man Irish contingent in action at Cologne.

Michael Hoey is joined by Lowry, Gareth Maybin, Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley, Peter Lawrie, Damien McGrane, Simon Thornton, Kevin Phelan and David Higgins in the field.

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