FedEx Open de France 2025 Preview, Picks & Analysis

This week’s Open de France at Golf de Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche offers a perfect opportunity for some players who missed out on the Ryder Cup to prove a point to both themselves and European captain Luke Donald.

Among those are Harry Hall, Kristoffer Reitan, Laurie Canter and John Parry. 

Hall will be feeling particularly aggrieved to have been overlooked. The Englishman has enjoyed a superb year on the PGA Tour. Before we get to his individual performances there are two key statistics - he made more birdies per round than any other player, including Scottie Scheffler. And he has been the best overall putter. He also happens to be one of the straightest hitters.

He made 25 starts, missing just three cuts, all of which came early in the season. Unlike Matthew Fitzpatrick, who did receive a captain’s pick, Hall made it to the Tour Championship, which makes him one of the best 30 golfers on the PGA Tour. He ended the regular season in 17th place in the FedEx Cup and saw his world ranking rise to 54. It is his level of consistency that stands out. There were five top 10s, including a sixth place at the BMW Championship. On top of that there were 15 top 25s. 

Regular readers will know that I am a huge fan of Reitan. 

I believe he would have been a huge asset to Europe at Bethpage Black. He is a golfer who loves to attack and makes birdies for fun. He has produced some absolutely stunning scores on the DP World Tour in 2025. Ahead of the BMW PGA Championship he was in third place in the Race to Dubai and has all but locked up his PGA Tour card for 2026. Many of the golfers who have qualified to play Stateside via this route have struggled but I am certain that Reitan is going to enjoy plenty of success. He is utterly fearless.

He won the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final last year and followed it by winning the Soudal Open thanks to a final round of 62. The following week he nearly won the Austrian Open after a fabulous final round of 60. He was tied fourth at the BMW International Open, tied third at the Nexo and tied sixth at the Danish Challenge.

Victor Perez is one of those who have enjoyed mixed fortunes in America and the Frenchman will be looking to give a big home crowd something to cheer about this week.

(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)

He enjoyed a fine amateur career and represented France in the 2014 Eisenhower Trophy, where he was the joint-second lowest individual scorer behind Jon Rahm.

He came through the third tier Alps Tour in 2016 and won during his first season on the Challenge Tour at the 2017 Challenge de España. Perez secured a memorable play-off victory in the 2018 Foshan Open, where he holed a 45-foot putt to play his way into extra holes. Thanks in part to that triumph, would go on to secure his DP World Tour card for 2019 by finishing in third place in the 2018 Challenge Tour Rankings.

He claimed a maiden victory in his first full season on Tour at the 2019 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, just a few miles from his base at the time in Dundee. Perez then finished a career-high sixth on the 2020 Race to Dubai in a season which included runner-up finishes at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship at BMW PGA Championship.

His second DP World Tour title came at the 2022 Dutch Open, defeating New Zealander Ryan Fox in a play-off on the fourth extra hole. He won his first Rolex Series title in thrilling fashion at the 2023 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, chipping in from a bunker on the 71st hole on his way to securing a one-stroke victory at Yas Links. He recorded his best major finish to date at that year’s Open at Royal Liverpool, finishing T12 as he went on to finish seventh on the 2023 Race to Dubai Rankings, also earning dual membership of the PGA Tour for 2024.

Speaking of Fox, he looked to be out of his depth in America, missing four cuts early in the season and looking like he was going to lose his card. From nowhere, he won the Myrtle Beach Classic, followed it with decent performances at the US PGA and Memorial and then claimed the Canadian Open.

The New Zealander is anything but an overnight success.

The son of legendary rugby union All Black fly-half Grant Fox, he was born in Auckland and turned professional in 2012. He won twice on his home PGA Tour of Australasia in 2014 and 2015, then picked up his first HotelPlanner Tour title at the 2015 Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge. His breakthrough HotelPlanner Tour season came in 2016, when he won the Tayto Northern Ireland Open en route to a fourth-place finish on the rankings to graduate to the DP World Tour. He also represented New Zealand at the Olympic Games in Rio later that year.

In his third season on the DP World Tour, Fox claimed his maiden title at the 2019 ISPS Handa World Super 6 Perth, beating Adrian Otaegui. He then represented New Zealand for a second time at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

His second DP World Tour title came at the 2022 Ras Al Khaimah Classic, cruising to a five-stroke victory, and he continued his excellent form that season as he finished runner-up three times before winning the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and ending the year in second place in the Race to Dubai.

He won his first Rolex Series title at the 2023 BMW PGA Championship, finishing one stroke ahead of Tyrrell Hatton and Aaron Rai at Wentworth and earned dual membership of the PGA Tour after finishing fifth on that season’s Race to Dubai. He also became a three-time Olympian after representing his nation at the 2024 Paris Olympics. He barely kept his PGA Tour card after finishing 106th in the 2024 FedExCup standings.

Twelve months ago, England's Dan Bradbury kept his nerve to win, holding off Jeff Winther, Yannik Paul, Thorbjorn Olesen and Sam Bairstow by one shot at Le Golf National to land his second DP World Tour title.

With more than a dozen players in contention throughout most of the fourth round, Bradbury finally emerged from the pack with three straight birdies on the back nine and held on to win at 16 under par. He left himself almost 50 feet from the hole after his approach got the 18th, left his first putt three feet away but calmly holed out for his par.

Playing in the penultimate group, he shot a bogey-free 66 to close the week and celebrated his par putt at the last with a fist-pump before watching from the scorers’ hut as Olesen and Bairstow also parred the hole to finish one behind.

Bradbury, who began the day two shots behind overnight leader Jesper Svensson from Sweden, said he was due some good fortune as his tee shot on the 15th stopped short of water.

"Obviously got lucky off the tee, but I feel like I've had a few bad breaks this week so quite nice to get a good one there,” said Bradbury. "And then I just pushed it [the second shot], straight up pushed it, and luckily it stayed on [the green]. Hit a horrendous putt that went in and sometimes you just need that. Once I'd done that, I was like 'it doesn't feel like my day, but there's definitely something going for me'."

Tournament Winners:

It was won in 2015 by Bernd Wiesberger, in 2016 by Thongchai Jaidee, in 2017 by Tommy Fleetwood, in 2018 by Alex Noren, in 2019 by Nicolas Colsaerts, in 2022 by Guido Migliozzi, in 2023 by Ryo Hisatsune and last year by Dan Bradbury.

The Course:

Golf de Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche is located 15 miles from Paris and is widely regarded to be one of the finest courses in France. It was created in the late 1950s and has previously staged the national open in 1965, 1969 and 1982. But it's perhaps best remembered for hosting the Trophée Lancôme for decades, when the likes of Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Seve Ballesteros, Lee Trevino, Bernhard Langer, Sandy Lyle, Colin Montgomerie, Ian Woosnam and Mark O'Meara won here.

Form Guide: 

Cornwall's Harry Hall was a standout on the PGA Tour this season and he will be joined in the field by Ryan Fox, who lifted two titles on the other side of the Atlantic in 2025. Both of these players should be considered among the favourites to triumph in France.

Prize Money: 

$3,250,000 is on offer for the field this week and 5,000 Race to Dubai points are available too.

How to Watch:

Thursday, September 18, Sky Sports Golf, 12.30pm; Friday, September 19, Sky Sports Golf, 12.30pm; Saturday, September 20, Sky Sports Golf, 12.00pm; Sunday, September 21, Sky Sports Golf, 12.00pm.

Win: 

Harry Hall. 28-year-old is hoping to win on European soil for the first time. 

Each Way: 

Ryan Fox. Twice a PGA Tour winner in 2025, one of the men to beat.

Each Way: 

Corey Conners. One of the most quietly impressive ball strikers on the PGA Tour.

Five to Follow:

Harry Hall. Could have been a Ryder Cup player.

Ryan Fox. One of the most decorated names in the field.

Corey Conners. Currently ranked 26th in the world.

Victor Perez. Home favourite hoping for success.

Dan Bradbury. The defending champion.

Five Outsiders to Watch: 

Adrian Meronk. LIV Golf star in the field.

Ewen Ferguson. The Scot was a contender at Wentworth.

Chris Wood. Englishman working his way back.

Brooks Koepka. Five-time major champion is struggling for form.

Thomas Detry. Won the Phoenix Open in February.