Guido Migliozzi finding positives as he relishes return to Open de France

Guido Migliozzi is relishing his position as defending champion at Le Golf National in this week’s Cazoo Open de France as he tries to find the positives in his game following last year's victory.

When Migliozzi arrived in Paris last September, it was with a game that was slowly beginning to show signs of life after a difficult season that had at the time seen him record just one top ten and 11 missed cuts in 2022.

Yet after The 150th Open, Migliozzi had begun to regain some consistency, with a tied 13th at the BMW PGA Championship and a tie for 34th at the Italian Open in the immediate weeks prior to his victory.

With uncertainty surrounding his card, Migliozzi was conscious of the pressure he had on his back heading into the event, and was eyeing up a great week on the course. What he produced on Sunday ensured exactly that.

"There was a lot of pressure for me at that time," he told the DP World Tour.

"My ranking was not that great, so I was first of all looking for a great, great week to earn points, a race to Dubai, the finals and everything"

The Italian, who had not won for three years, began the final day five shots off the lead but capped off a superb final round with a brilliant birdie at the last to surge through the chasing pack and win France's national open with a course record-equalling 62.

After five successive pars, Migliozzi's round had been ignited with the first of nine birdies in 13 holes but he saved the best until last – one of the toughest finishing holes in golf - with an astounding faded approach from 192 yards. His ball cleared the lake guarding the front of the green by only 15 feet but then tracked towards the hole and almost went in before finishing six feet past the pin. He rolled the putt in for the first birdie of the day at the 72nd hole to set the clubhouse target, which was enough to eventually beat Denmark's Rasmus Højgaard by one shot.

Reflecting on the shot and what it's like returning as defending champion one year on, Migliozzi said it was emotional.

"There's a lot of emotions here for me, playing the French Open as a past winner, it's an amazing, because it's a great course, it's fabulous," he said.

"There's a lot of history for the French Open, for this course as well where the Ryder Cup has been played. The French Open is one of the best tournaments that we have on the DP World Tour as well.

"The 18th is probably one of the toughest holes on the DP World Tour. The last thing you want to do is go into the water and that flag in the right corner is not very easy to reach. It's almost impossible, but yeah, there is a slope going that way and the wind was into from the left. So what I did was to hit a five iron starting from the left of the green as well, and with a little cut trying to use that slope. And I did it almost perfect.

"I mean, when the ball was in the air, I was thinking, please don't do it. Please don't do it. There is water behind. There is water in front of you as well. So it was a very, very tiny, the landing area.

"When I heard the crowd vibing and cheering a lot, I understood the shot was very, very good. But I still had to make the putt as well.

"So I was trying to stay focused, stay calm because the job was not done yet and then I made the putt as well. So then I realised that I was in the clubhouse with a very good target and then I won the tournament by one shot and the final shot on the 18 was key at the end of the day. Yeah, it's an incredible feeling.

"So it will be an amazing week and I'm looking forward for it."

Now Migliozzi comes back to Paris with a similar resume to the one he arrived with last year, and is hoping for some similar inspiration.

He has just one top ten to his name in 2023, but a tied 13th at the Omega European Masters and a tied 16th at the Horizon Irish Open in two of his last three starts.

While now coming to France after missing the cut at Wentworth, Migliozzi is still positive as he admits the last couple of years have forced him to keep perspective about how he manages himself, his understanding and enjoyment of the game.

"This year it's been tough," he explained. "I wanted to play great and perform every week honestly, but it is never easy. Golf is tough and we are all trying to be in form every week to perform.

"Even last year I was not playing that great until this week, and it's a matter of everything. I mean, when you're in good control of your game, everything seems easy when you're not, everything seems very difficult, but it's okay.

"I'm trying to manage myself on the golf course. I'm trying to enjoy golf and playing great golf as well, but even in the bad days, I'm always trying to see those days. I want to understand why it's happening. I want to understand everything and I'm trying to see the good part of it as well. So I'm pretty sure that good things will come."