Victor

Dubuisson

The 30-year-old Dubuisson, No. 205 in the OWGR, carded back-to-back rounds of 3-under 69 over the weekend at Yas Links in Abu Dhabi. It marked his fourth made cut in seven starts at the event, where he’s had one other top 10 after finishing T-4 in 2015. The Frenchman will look to keep the momentum rolling this week at the Dubai Desert Classic, where he’ll make his eighth career start. In seven previous appearances in Dubai, Dubuisson has made just two cuts, missing out on weekend action the last two years and finishing T-38 in 2019. He’s undoubtedly looking for an overall rebound performance from last season after making just nine cuts in 19 starts on the DP World Tour with two top 10s (T-7 at Kenya Savannah Classic, fourth at BMW International Open).

That’s two behind leader Guido Migliozzi. The 29-year-old started out with a hat-trick of birdies but gave all three shots back with bogeys at 4, 8 and 11. But the flamboyant Frenchman had a second surge and splashed red birdies at 12, 13, 14, 17 and 18 while also taking six swishes on the par-5 16th. The World No. 336 was tied 12th in this event last year while he also posted tied sixth at the Saudi International on his last start, beginning the final round there in second place before a disappointing closer. Logic doesn’t always play out with Dubuisson but those who noted his converging trends this week are being rewarded so far.

The Frenchman moved up three spots after matching the low lap of the day. On his outward half, he burst from the gate with birdies at 2, 3 and 4 while on his second nine he added par breakers at 12 and 14. The 29-year-old said: “It was this kind of day when everything goes well. I made a few mistakes on yardage with the wind and I managed to save par each time. It’s this kind of day when everything is smiling at you.” As for the turnaround in form (he hasn’t had a top ten since last March while his last top five came in 2017), Dubuisson revealed that he’d had a long chat with his coach after Abu Dhabi (69th) and switched back to the old TaylorMade clubs he used two years ago. It may also help him that he’ll play with 2014 Ryder Cup partner McDowell on Sunday. Asked about that, the World No. 478 said: “It will be a great day. Very happy to play with him tomorrow.”

The former Ryder Cup star was tied 18th in this event last year but gamers who decided he was worth the risk were fearing the worst on day one when Dubuisson slipped to +3 after 3. The golfing maverick has withdrawn from countless events but here he dug deep to grind out a 1-under 69. He built on that today with a fast opening nine, picking up shots at 10, 13, 17 and 18 to turn in 31. The surge continued with gains at 2 and 4 before he dropped his only shot of the day at 7. The 29-year-old is way down the world rankings at 478th but that simply doesn’t reflect his talent. He seems to be in his comfort zone at this course (that’s now five straight rounds in the 60s at Royal Greens) so could be an interesting dark horse to watch this weekend.

The Frenchman has done that numerous times of course and his exit three years ago came after an opening 73. Prior to that he’d enjoyed previous trips to Italy, with T13 and T39 in this event and T27 and T20 in the Sicilian Open. His two wins in Turkey came amongst the trees so Dubuisson can thrive in a parkland setting which bodes well for his first look at Olgiata. Right now, he sits 96th on the Race to Dubai thanks mainly to five top 20s up until the end of June. More recently, he withdrew twice in three starts after openers of 73 and 82 respectively in Sweden and Germany but bounced back with T26 in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship last time. Gamers know the deal by now but the high risk often means low ownership.

The early good vibes of the Frenchman’s return to the European Tour are now long gone. In this calendar year he started 8-for-9 with seven finishes inside the top 40. Since then he is 3-for-8 with two withdrawals and a best of T20. He was last seen carding 82 in round one of the European Open last week. It is why he ranks just 101st on the Race to Dubai. He rates 55th or better for the long game categories in Strokes Gained, but only 128th Around the Greens and 109th for Putting. He was T12 in this tournament in 2011 and T58 the following year.

He hasn’t been back for a while, four years in fact, but the ever enigmatic Frenchman has no reason not to look forward to a return to Sweden even if this represents his debut on the course. Back in 2010 he debuted and finished a solid T24, a year later he added T13, but then he had three years off. His return in 2014 saw him shoot a pair of 69s before the cut and a pair of 67s after it to claim T2. He was tied for the lead after 36 and 72 holes, only losing out to Thongchai Jaidee in extra holes (alongside Stephen Gallacher). He rebounded from two linksland missed cuts in July with T39 last week in Prague.

The Frenchman’s lap at Albatross Golf Resort has moved him to T5, a jump of 34 spots to just two behind clubhouse leader Robert Karlsson. Dubuisson made eagle-3 on his third hole of the day, the 12th, and picked up further shots at 16, 5 and 6 while keeping the rest of his card clean. Today’s round is his best at the course, eclipsing the 68 he fired on Friday when T27 on his only previous appearance in 2015. After a good run earlier this season, the former Ryder Cup star has fallen away in recent months, missing three of his last four cuts. However, he did post T20 at Valderrama in that run to claim his sixth top 25 of the season.

The mercurial Frenchman has two top fives (2012 and 2017) in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland, a T10 in the 2015 Scottish Open on the links of Gullane and T9 on his second appearance in The Open at Royal Liverpool. With that nice bank of links form under his belt, it’s rather startling that he’s played in six Irish Opens and missed the cut in all of them. He’s shot a round in the 80s in two of his last three but there was a hint of something better at Portstewart on his last appearance two years ago when Dubuisson opened with a 69 before a 73 resulted in yet another MC. He’ll try again on the back of tied 20th at Valderrama on Sunday, a result which represented his sixth top 25 of the campaign so the former Ryder Cup star is certainly playing well enough to get in the mix on his debut at Lahinch.

In 2019 itself the enigmatic Frenchman hasn’t missed a cut if he’s managed to play the entire tournament (and only one withdrawal). Six times he has finished better than T30, but is is yet to better T10. But he’s getting there if his mid-event positions are anything to go by. He was T7 at halfway in the Oman Open, T5 after 54 holes in the China Open and T8 at the same stage in the British Masters. He’s played the course four times, made the weekend every time, but he has struggled to impose himself. His finishes have been T54, T53, T20 and T34. Only once has he been in the top ten at any point in the week.