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Julien Sale made history by becoming the first player from France to win the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge as he secured his maiden HotelPlanner Tour title.
The Frenchman carded a final round four under par 68 to reach 12 under par, a birdie on the 72nd hole taking him one shot clear of Denmark’s Hamish Brown.
The 28-year-old was delighted to write his name into the history books on home soil, despite having started the final round with a double bogey.
“It feels amazing to win on home soil,” he said. “I’m the first French golfer to win this tournament, so it’s pretty good to put my name on this trophy.
“I made double, so I didn’t have the best start. But after nine holes, I went back to even, and I thought if I had a good back nine, I would have a good chance to catch the leaders, but also get a top five. And then that eagle, the bunker shot I holed out on 12, that got me to ten under, and I thought I had a good chance if I played the next couple of holes well, and luckily I did it.
“On 16 tee box, there is a leaderboard right behind it so after the tee shot, I looked back and saw the leaders were at eleven under par, and I was at eleven under. 17 is tough, so I tried to make a good par, hit two good shots, just missed the putt but par was good.
“When I was on 18 tee box I saw I was at 11 tied for the lead so I thought if I make birdie, I’m clubhouse leader, if I make eagle even better so I tried my best and made birdie.”
It was the worst possible start for Sale, as he found the trees off the par four first tee, and took two shots to escape before eventually winding up with a six.
But the Frenchman picked up two gains at the sixth and ninth holes to make the turn in level par, before an eagle hole-out lit up his round.
Roared on by the home crowd, who came out to support in their numbers, Sale found birdies on the par five 15th and the last to secure victory.
“The crowd was great, I had them pretty much all weekend, and it’s been good,” he added. “They always cheered for me, especially when you make birdies and big putts the crowd is roaring so to hear that gives you a little bit of momentum, which is great.
“I’m proud of how I fought back after that first hole. I think in a way it kind of helped me because it put the pressure and the nerves away and I just managed to stick to my game plan, keep my head down and just play my golf. I’m pretty happy about that because its what I’ve been working on for a while now and it worked out.
“It means a lot because this year has been kind of weird. I feel like the games been pretty good I’ve been hitting the ball well but I haven’t had the results. There’s been lots of top 20s, top 30s but not so many good points to make big jumps, so this win will play a big part in finishing in the top 15 at the end of the year.”
The victory vaults Sale 56 places in the Road to Mallorca Rankings up to 13th and puts him in contention to earn a DP World Tour card come the end of the season.
Behind Sale and Brown in a tie for third was Italy’s Lorenzo Scalise and Jacopo Vecchi Fossa, England’s Alfie Plant, Norway’s Kristian Krogh Johannessen, and South Africa’s MJ Viljoen on ten under par.
The Road to Mallorca now heads to Germany for the German Challenge powered by VcG, to be played from July 9-12.
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