Julien

Guerrier

The 37-year-old Guerrier opened with rounds of 66-69-69 to hold a one-stroke lead heading into the final round. But after making the turn at 3 under on the day, he made bogey on three of his final six holes to finish on the podium for the just the fourth time in his career and the first time since a T-3 at the 2021 Open de Espana last October. On the season, Guerrier has made nine cuts in 16 starts, and he’s in the field for this week’s Hero Open, where he was T-15 in 2021.

HV3 was last seen at the Travelers Championship posting a T43 finish. It was nothing to write home about but a nice rebound after a missed cut at Brookline. He is qualified to play in next week’s Open Championship so we will presumably see him return to action next week at St. Andrews. Varner is currently 52nd in the FedExCup race with nine top 25s in 19 events played.

The 36-year-old Frenchman finished at 17-under 276, two strokes out of the playoff won by Spain’s Rafa Cabrera Bello, and notched his first European Tour top 10 of the season. It also marked his third career finish on the podium, having finished third just two times previously – at the 2018 NBO Oman Open and the 2014 Madeira Islands Open. On the season, Guerrier has made 16 cuts in 24 starts with no other top 10s. He stands at No. 429 in the world rankings and 103rd in the Race to Dubai. He does have two Challenge Tour wins on his resume, capturing the Irish Challenge and the Hauts de France Golf Open, both in 2017. He’s in the field for this week’s Andalucia Masters at Real Club Valderrama, where he’s made two previous appearances with a best finish of T-29 in 2018.

On the whole South Africa has not been a happy hunting ground for the Frenchman who missed the cut in nine of his first ten visits (the exception was T17 in the 2009 Alfred Dunhill Championship). Since then he is 4-for-7 but he’s yet to make a top ten in a European Tour co-sanctioned event there. He was injured for much of last season, following a fine 2018 – the first year he managed to retain his card (thanks to four top tens and a lot of promise among other results). He made three late starts in 2019 and completed four circuits every time. He missed the cut in the Dunhill Championship to kick off 2020, but was then T9 in the Mauritius Open.

The Frenchman, a British Amateur champion and much touted in the unpaid ranks, had a struggle establishing himself at European Tour level, but he did it last season, finishing 86th in the Race to Dubai with four top tens. But he suffered from injuries late in the campaign and only made his comeback at Wentworth. He made the cut there and in the Dunhill Links, but finishes of T60-T56 indicate little. He has almost unprecedented experience of the track from his Challenge Tour days, playing four times and making the cut on every occasion with a best of T6 in 2014 when he was in the top three until a final round 73. He’s an impressive 16-for-19 in Italy on the CT and ET.

The Frenchman had to play 21 holes at Walton Heat today after bad light halted his second round. Resuming at 5-under, he immediately bogeyed the 7th and followed it with two pars for a 70. Today’s 2-under-par round, his third straight 70, again featured three birdies against a single bogey. An 18-foot putt at No. 2 got him back to 5-under although he gave the gain back at No. 3. After that, he kept a clean card and added red circles at 8 and 11. Guerrier won twice on the Challenge Tour last season; now the World No. 208 is in position to take the next step.

The Frenchman went out in the penultimate group from 10th tee today and couldn’t get finished before the light faded. Still, that was a fine day’s work for the World No. 208, who had advanced 19 spots up the leaderboard to pull level with Matt Wallace and sit three behind leader Eddie Pepperell. The key was keeping the bogeys away and he did a superb job of that, firing 12 pars and three birdies on the day. Those gains came at the par-5 11th, the par-3 17th and the par-4 1st. Guerrier might also fancy himself to pull closer to Pepperell early on Saturday as he played his three remaining holes (7-9) in par-eagle-birdie in a first-round 70.

The tournament at Morgado G&CC has dual status with the European and Challenge Tours but the field quality suggests it’s more of the latter. That suggests the 31-year-old Frenchman, a Q-School regular, could be competitive after his solo third at last month’s Turkish Airlines Challenge where he opened with a 65. Guerrier has also posted T11 (2012) and T3 (2014) at the Madeira Island Open, another Euro/Challenge Tour hybrid held in Portugal, so is worthy of sleeper status.

A big week for the Frenchman. It is only his second full season at this level and a rare opportunity to win. With it, and the pre-round lead held with Matthew Southgate and the eventual winner, came nerves. He opened with eight straights pars followed by a pair of bogeys at the turn (9 and 10). By this stage he needed the leaders to come back and they never did. However he assured himself a big check and plenty of Race to Dubai points with birdies at 12, 14 and 16. The result might equal his T3 in the 2014 Madeira Islands Open, but that result was over just 36 holes and a very minor field. This week’s performance rates higher.

No-one hit more greens in regulation that the Frenchman through 54 holes of strokeplay last week in the World Super 6 Perth and he was at it again in round one, ranking fourth. The Tour is slow in updating stats, but he either maintained that form or found a hot flatstick in his flawless round two. He started on the tenth and made the most of the back nine par-5s, ticking 12 and 16. On the front nine his par breaker came at the short par-4 fourth. One of many with past course experience on the second tier, Guerrier was third here in 2016 and a round one co-leader in 2013. A former British Amateur champion three European Tour top tens in 77 starts is a sign of his under-performing in the past.