Romain

Wattel

The Frenchman’s career is in flux at the moment because having made 25 European Tour top tens in his early years at this level he hit a bare patch, exploded from it to win the 2017 KLM Open, but has made just two further top tens and lost his card last year. He did make four top 20s last campaign but they were his only finishes better than T40 all year. He is 6-for-9 at this week’s course with three top 20s in that log book. He was T3 in 2014, T12 in 2012 and T16 last year. Elsewhere in the U.A.E. he has played Jumeirah three times without a top 20 and is 4-for-8 at Abu Dhabi GC but has no top 40 since he was T14 on debut in 2012.

The Frenchman is suffering from a case of diminishing returns in Switzerland. Way back in 2012 he finished T2 on debut and after a missed cut the following year he was T9 in 2014. Since then? Another empty weekend in 2015 and then three cuts made but no top 40. His form this season has been poor. He has managed three top 20s (T16 Dubai Desert Classic, T20 Scottish Open, T14 Czech Masters) but has reached just one further weekend in his 18 starts. The good news, of course, is that two of those top 20s have come recently – in his last three starts in fact and although he pegged a 74 in round one last week he did respond with a 67 so all is not lost.

The Frenchman drained a six foot birdie putt on the 218-yard par-3 ninth green to complete a stunning second (front) nine of 6-under 29 that had also witnessed par breakers at the first and second, then the fourth and fifth, and also the seventh. Before that he had played a neat back nine, ticking the tenth, 12th and 16th against a bogey at the 15th. If he maintains the first round lead – and it’s not a given with the afternoon starters going low – it would be only the second 18 hole lead of his European Tour career. He’ll be more pleased that having gone 2-for-15 this season he looks set to play a rare weekend and first since the China Open in early May. When he signed his card eight players in the clubhouse and on the course were one back of him.

The Frenchman didn’t know it after his round but when he turned his phone on to check the scores of the late finishers on Friday morning (there was a three hour delay on Thursday afternoon) he had good news. He had started his lap on the back nine and made early birdies birdies at the tenth, 11th and 16, but dropped shots after the turn at the first and second. However he stayed resolute and ticked the seventh and ninth. 69 may seem a minor success but it is his first sub-70 start to an event in ten. And although he is in a 16 man tie for sixth, three behind Andrea Pavan’s lead, it represents his first top ten end-of-round position anywhere since last summer’s European Open, when he was top ten all week when gaining T5.

The French duo of Romain Wattel and Victor Perez came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Germany Women earlier today and kept the momentum going by surging into a 2-0 lead against Jamie Donaldson and Stuart Manley. The first was via birdie-3 while the second was handed to them after a Welsh bogey. The next three holes were halved in par before Wales won the last to reduce the deficit to 2-1. The defeat eliminates Wales while France must avoid defeat against Australia in the final session to go through.

The Frenchman was second in this event back in 2015, but the bad news for him is that since then the tournament has been played at a different course. His success came at Golf du Palais Royal and he has found the tree-lined RTJ Sr design used the last three years trickier. He missed the cut on debut in 2016, was T27 a year later and T52 this time last year. He was T16 in the Dubai Desert Classic but to call it a mirage this season is something of an understatement: He has missed the cut in every other start, all six of them. Moreover, he has not broken 73 in his last eight laps and twice needed more than 80 blows.

The Frenchman cracked the top 20 at Doha last year, coming through to take T9 after a closing 66. He was also T11 in 2014. However, between those good efforts he missed the cut three times. Further contrast can be found in his current form. Wattel shot rounds of 68-70-70-67 to take T16 in the Dubai Desert Classic but he’s missed the cut in all his other three 2019 starts, crashing out of last week’s Oman Open with a second-round 80. Clearly he’s a risky play but could just emerge as a very worthwhile cheap option.

The Frenchman started Sunday 5 back of the lead and was soon even further adrift when posting bogey-4 at No. 2 and double bogey-6 at No.3. But it was to be a day when the leaders came back to the pack and Wattel took advantage. He made birdies at 4, 10, 12, 17 and 18 to eventually find himself just 3 back of the winner Chris Wood. It was a particularly noteworthy effort given that he hit just 5 fairways all day.

Make that a first start in any major on American soil for the Frenchman, who secured his spot by carding 4-under 140 (70-70) in sectional qualifying at Walton Heath Golf Club in England. Wattel is 35th on this year’s Race to Dubai and should carry some confidence across the pond after posting T4 in the PGA BMW Championship at Wentworth and T25 in the Nordea Masters on his last two starts. He goes out at 7:29 a.m on Thursday alongside Asian pair Sung Kang and Yusaku Miyazato.

The 25-year-old Frenchman has pegged three rounds of 67 whilst finishing T11 and T37 in this event during the last two years. He is also within reach, should he have at least one very good week in the next three, of topping his career best Race to Dubai finish of 28th (he’s currently 46th). Eight top 25 finishes this season have lifted him to that mark, with a best of T4 at the BMW PGA Championship. Of more concern are his recent R1 scores: 74, 78, 78, 73 in his last four outings leaving him floundering in T144, T162, T114 and T107. He may also be keen to shore up his putting: he’s averaged less than 30 putts per round in his five previous seasons on Tour but is 30.32 this term, ditto his Putt Average (always below 1.8 now bang on that figure).