PARIS — England's Matt Fitzpatrick secured his fourth title of the season with a three-shot victory at the French Open at Le Golf National, finishing at 20-under par to hold off Spain's Angel Hidalgo at 17-under.
Fitzpatrick, 32, carded a one-under-par 70 in the final round after taking a five-shot lead into the final day. He opened with 12 successive pars as the chasing pack cut his advantage to two, before crucial birdies on the 13th and 15th pushed him clear again. A bogey at the last did not deny him an 11th European Tour title. "Delighted to get it over the line, it was definitely a battle today," he said. "I didn't have my best stuff for the first 12 holes and then managed to find some of my best stuff. In a way I was quite lucky - I left myself in some nice spots where you can still get up and down from, but I fully took advantage of that and did really well."
The victory continues a strong season for Fitzpatrick, whose three other titles this year came on the PGA Tour. He has won the Valspar Championship and the RBC Heritage, as well as the Zurich Classic team event in New Orleans alongside younger brother Alex.
Matthieu Pavon shot the best round of the day with a seven-under 64 to finish tied for fourth at 15-under alongside French compatriot Tom Vaillant, Spain's Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra and Norway's Kristoffer Reitan. Sweden's Ludvig Aaberg finished at 12-under, Scotland's Ewen Ferguson and England's Dan Bradbury at 10-under, while Italy's Edoardo Molinari and Norway's Viktor Hovland finished at seven-under.