The Punter's De-Brief: Magnificent Migliozzi hauls in Hojgaard

Pre-event 42.041/1 chance, Rasmus Hojgaard, led the Open de France by eight strokes after he'd finished his second round on Friday morning and in 50 years of DP World Tour history, nobody has led an event by that many strokes at halfway. As it transpired, that record still stands.

Playing in the afternoon on day two, George Coetzee closed to within seven of Hojgaard and Frenchman, Paul Barjon, finished nicely to get to within six, but Hojgaard still headed into the weekend as a strong favourite, trading at around 1.51/2.

After a par at his opening hole on Saturday, Hojgaard's price dipped to just 1.42/5 but the tournament was blown wide open at the very next hole when the Dane put three tee-balls into the water at the par three second before holing a 14-foot putt for a quintuple eight! And he followed that with a bogey at the third after he found water once again off the tee.

To his credit, Hojgaard composed himself brilliantly after that and following a strong finish, he went into round four with a one-stroke lead but as highlighted in the In-Play Blog, Le Golf National is a tough place to lead and eight of the previous 11 54-hole leaders had been beaten.

Hojgaard began round four far better than he had round three and after another opening par at the first, he rolled in a 56-foot birdie putt on the second before recording an eagle three at the third. Incredibly, he played the two holes in nine strokes less than he had on Saturday!

The 21-year-old understandably went odds-on again after that but back-to-back bogeys on eight and nine halted his progress and as he made the turn, Hojgaard and playing partner, George Coetzee, were tied for the lead but Barjon and Thomas Pieters trailed by a stroke, alongside my 100.099/1 in-play pick, Guido Migliozzi.

Having started steadily with five straight pars, Migliozzi, who had been matched at 1000.0999/1 when he trailed by 13 at halfway, made quite a move with five birdies in-a-row from the sixth and after a birdie at the 13th, he drew alongside Hojgaard and Coetzee with this lengthy one at the par five 14th.

Guido hits the front!

Birdie number SEVEN in his final round and bogey free. #CazooOpenDeFrance pic.twitter.com/XOR92tITlC

? DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) September 25, 2022

Yet another birdie followed at the tough 15th but with Coetzee and Hojgaard both birdying 14 and Thomas Pieters making an eagle there, although he'd moved to the head of the market, the 25-year-old Italian still had plenty to do.

Coetzee, who was matched at a low of just 2.56/4, found water off the tee on 15 and he and Pieters both found it with their approaches. Coetzee recorded a triple-bogey seven and Pieters made a six, so they were out of the reckoning and Hojgaard was really up against it when Migliozzi, who had begun the event trading at 130.0129/1, struck this brilliant approach to the ultra-tough par four 18th.

Step up @guidomigliozzi!!!!

He hits this shot into 18 as he looks to post -16. #CazooOpenDeFrance pic.twitter.com/ifos4jTocz

? DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) September 25, 2022

The finish to Le Golf National is brutally tough after the par five 14th and Hojgaard could only par his way in which left him one shot shy of Migliozzi.

It was impossible not to feel a bit sorry for Hojgaard, who did very little wrong. To go out and shoot a three-under-par 68 on Sunday was a tremendous effort given he'd been in front from the get-go after his nine-under-par 62 on Thursday afternoon.

Hojgaard finished four strokes ahead of the rest and he was beaten by the best final round ever witnessed in 104 years of Open de France history.

Migliozzi's bogey-free nine-under par 62 will go down as one of the best final rounds ever witnessed on the DP World Tour but he's far from the first to come from off the pace and claim the crown in Paris.

The Italian trailed by five with a round to go and he's now the third winner to trail by at least that many strokes since 2014 and we lost the 2020 and '21 editions to the pandemic!

Alex Noren won from seven back in 2018 and Graeme McDowell trailed by eight when he defended the title four years earlier so this really is a great tournament in which to take on the leaders and to take a chance on a chaser or two.

When you see Migliozzi play as well as he did yesterday, you have to wonder why he doesn't win more often than he does (this was his third DP World Tour title but his first in more than three years) but maybe he just needs a really stern examination to keep him focused?

Although his form is very patchy and he often goes off at a triple-figure price, Migliozzi has finished fourth and 14th in his only two appearances in the US Open and as Dave Tindall pointed out yesterday afternoon, a number of Paris winners have also won what's often regarded as the toughest major.

Migliozzi's US Open record (4th and 14th last two years) was maybe a good pointer in an event won by G-Mac, Kaymer, Fleetwood, Goosen, Monty etc.

? Dave Tindall (@DaveTindallgolf) September 25, 2022

The DP World Tour returns to St Andrews this week for the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and the PGA Tour visits Mississippi for the Sanderson Farms Championship and I'll be back later today or tomorrow with the previews.

*You can follow me on Twitter @SteveThePunter