Benjamin Hebert had averaged 76.57 in seven previous opening rounds at the Open de France; today, he smashed that figure by over ten shots, firing a 5-under-par 34-32=66 to end in T3 and just a stroke behind joint-leaders George Coetzee and Ryan Fox.
Since T42 on debut in 2010, he’s gone 0-for-6 in his home event but it was a different story this time. After a birdie/bogey trade at 2 and 5, the World No. 103 made his move with red circles at 6, 7, 10 and 11. After consolidating with four pars he made further progress after a birdie-bogey-birdie run over the final three holes. “I putted very well today,” he said. “I work on my putting since the start of the week. I have a private lesson with Mr. David Orr, who is like a big expert of putting. We changed some stuff and he works very well. So I’m pretty happy. At 17th, Hebert is the highest ranked Frenchman on the Race to Dubai. He added: “I feel good support from the French public. We have only one tournament a year, so it’s very important for us to represent this week.” He has a morning tee-time in round two.