Find Me A 100 Winner / Paul Krishnamurty / 24 June 2008 /

Penal rough is prime terrain for plodders at the Le Golf National where good form and driving accuracy make Simon Khan a candidate to convert winning opportunities, says Paul Krishnamurty.

There are few European Tour venues likelier to produce a shock winner than Le Golf National, host to this week's Open de France. Of the last six champions, Malcolm Mackenzie and Philip Golding were impossible to pick and started certainly in excess of [300.0]. Graeme Storm and John Bickerton both started at or near three figures, though were plausible candidates. Even home favourite Jean-Francois Remesy couldn't have been described as obvious for either of his consecutive wins.

The most obvious reason I can attribute for this is that driving distance is virtually irrelevant here, and since the rough has become more penal it has become something of a plodder's course, with monotonously hitting fairways and greens the order of the day. Experience, and good course management, are the crucial assets.

I can see similarities in the profiles of Simon Khan, currently trading at [140.0], and last year's winner Graeme Storm. Both Englishmen are very accurate, consistent players. And whereas Storm was long overdue that first success, I'm surprised Khan hasn't converted any of his several winning opportunities in the four years since his sole triumph in Wales. Good form in these lucrative, summer European events has enabled Khan to make the top-50 in the last four Order of Merits, and whilst he's currently languishing in 94th place, I suspect he'll improve on that in the coming weeks at venues he knows well.

Le Golf National is one such venue. He finished a close third last year, and was 12th in 2006. There's also some recent encouragement in the form of a top-10 in a competitive Wentworth field last month, and a respectable 30th in Germany after a poor start. His stats in this week's key areas are noteworthy too, ranking 11th for driving accuracy in Germany and 15th for greens in regulation over the past three months.

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