{"id":781340,"date":"2026-09-24T18:30:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T18:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/781340\/"},"modified":"2026-09-24T18:30:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T18:30:10","slug":"open-de-france-michael-kim-leads-after-dream-start-as-matt-fitzpatrick-impresses-on-low-scoring-day-at-le-golf-national-golf-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/781340\/","title":{"rendered":"Open de France: Michael Kim leads after ‘dream start’ as Matt Fitzpatrick impresses on low-scoring day at Le Golf National | Golf News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Matt Fitzpatrick sits two shots off the early lead at the FedEx Open de France, as defending champion Michael Kim topped the leaderboard after a \u2018dream start\u2019 at Le Golf National. <\/p>\n

Kim carded eight birdies, including four of his first six holes, to post a bogey-free 63 on a low-scoring opening day and grab a two-shot advantage.<\/p>\n

The American – beginning on the back nine – followed successive birdies from the 11th by adding two more from the 14th, then ended a run of pars by picking up a shot at the par-four first.<\/p>\n

Kim failed to take advantage of the par-five third but added back-to-back birdies from the fifth to move top of the leaderboard, then doubled his lead over the chasing pack – including Fitzpatrick – by picking up a shot at the par-five ninth.<\/p>\n

“Just a dream start,” Kim said. “All parts of my game were really good, especially my irons and my putting. I couldn’t have asked for a better start.”<\/p>\n

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Fitzpatrick also made a blemish-free start, posting six birdies in a six-under 65, with the Englishman one of seven players sharing second after the opening round.<\/p>\n

Thriston Lawrence was within one of the lead until a final-hole bogey dropped him back to six under, with Ryder Cup hopeful Kristoffer Reitan and England’s Sam Bairstow also two back.<\/p>\n

\"Kristoffer<\/p>\n

Image:
\n Kristoffer Reitan is two strokes back after the opening day<\/p>\n

Australian Jason Scrivener and Italian duo Gerogio De Leo and Matteo Manassero are the others alongside Fitzpatrick in tied-second, with Ryder Cup vice-captain Edoardo Molinar three strokes back on five under.<\/p>\n

“Really good day,” Fitzpatrick said. “Great start to the week and relatively stress-free, which is always nice – particularly around this golf course.”<\/p>\n

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Viktor Hovland is four off the early lead alongside American Ryan Gerard while Tommy Fleetwood – part of Europe’s Ryder Cup-winning team at this venue in 2018 – started with a two-under 69.<\/p>\n

Manuel Elvira, who double-bogeyed the 72nd hole to miss out on BMW PGA Championship victory on Sunday, sits second-bottom of the leaderboard after a nine-over 80.<\/p>\n

Who will win the FedEx Open de France? Live coverage continues Friday from 12.30pm on Sky Sports Golf. Get latest Sky Sports deals<\/a> or stream with no contract on NOW<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Matt Fitzpatrick sits two shots off the early lead at the FedEx Open de France, as defending champion…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":781341,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-781340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=781340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781340\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/781341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=781340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=781340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=781340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}