That meant 42 of the afternoon starters were unable to complete their rounds before another thunderstorm saw play abandoned for the day, among them defending champion Graeme McDowell, who was one over par with just one hole to play. I was not driving it great early on, and I scrambled around and had a couple of four and five footers for par. In general, given the windy conditions early on, I’m quite happy with that.
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Home favourite Victor Dubuisson, who began the day four shots off the lead in fourth, had a disappointing final round, dropping four shots, including a double bogey on the 18th and a triple bogey on the seventh to finish two under.
McDowell successfully defended a title for the first time in his career 12 months ago and would become the first player since Marcel Dallemagne in 1938 to win the French Open three times in succession with another victory on Sunday.
It was the third European Tour title of his career, the two others both coming in 2012, and it sets him up nicely for a crack at the British Open in St Andrews in two weeks time.
The 29-year-old carded six birdies – including five in six holes on the front nine – in a final round of 65.
Woods has had a largely dismal 2015 so far, slumping to 220th in the world rankings and recording three scores in the 80s in his last six tournaments.
For most of the fourth round, the Austrian’s main challenger was Germany’s Martin Kaymer, who birdied two of the first three holes.
“My plan was really not to play (the tournament) at the beginning because I thought I needed to practise a little bit more to get ready for The Open, but that was the best preparation I could have had, especially playing in the last few groups today”, the two-time major victor said. Below is a recap of the first day’s events (via European Tour).
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After a birdie on the second, Woods looked to have undone much of his good work with a double bogey on the sixth, where he thinned a bunker shot across the green, but he responded superbly to finish his round with three straight birdies.
