Tommy Fleetwood is looking forward to standing on the famous 18th green at Le Golf National once again as he tees it up at the FedEx Open de France for the first time since 2018.
The Englishman could be forgiven for having mixed feelings about the venue on the outskirts of Paris, having missed the cut on his first four visits to Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines.
But after storming to victory in 2017, he has since lifted a Ryder Cup and been presented with an Olympic Silver Medal on the island putting surface and he is delighted to be back in the French capital.
"It is nice to be back," he said. "I love coming back and playing on the DP World Tour as it is.
"But coming to a place and a course that has been kind to me over the years and given me some unbelievable moments, it's really nice being back.
"The last green here, I've had absolutely some of the best moments of my career.
"I won the French Open, the Ryder Cup, it was my first Ryder Cup and that was unbelievably special and we won that one. And then the Olympics two years ago, standing on the Olympic podium.
"So, yeah, this place has been very kind to me over the years.
"I think it's great to come back to somewhere where you can draw on great memories. No matter how hard you found a place before or how many tough weeks you might have had, I think just having those good moments and those great shots to fall back on when you have done it, I think is more important than the bad stuff."
Since his victory nine years ago, Fleetwood has gone on to play in four Ryder Cups, winning three, have eight top five finishes in Major Championships and become a truly international player, winning the FedExCup last season.
It was his 2017 Race to Dubai victory that truly propelled him to global stardom and Fleetwood believes his victory at this vent was a pivotal moment in that season.
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"I started the year really, really well. I won in Abu Dhabi that year," he said.
"It hadn't really been a goal of mine to win the Race to Dubai at that point. I just sort of got my game back at the start of the year.
"And then I came here, I've never made the cut before at this event, and then I ended up winning. And I think that put me at the top of the Race to Dubai, which is where I sort of started to think, oh, maybe I could win one of these.
"So it was a big moment for me. It was my first Rolex event that I won. But it was such a big moment for me. It was on a course where I'd struggled before.
"So to win an event like that, it was such a big event, put me to the top of the Race to Dubai. It was a massive moment in my career for me."
Fleetwood's career has been noted for a remarkable consistency and his missed cut at last week's BMW PGA Championship was just his second on the DP World Tour outside of Majors and World Golf Championships since this event in 2018.
Tommy Fleetwood has arrived at Le Golf National 👋
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) September 22, 2026
The Englishman returns to the site of his first Rolex Series win in 2017.#FedExOpenDeFrance pic.twitter.com/iVdMzlK4Vq
That result inspired him to hit the range and the course fresh on Monday and the World Number Nine is aiming for a big finish to 2026.
"Throughout the season, I probably played almost better than last year at times," he said. "I think I was really consistent. I put myself into contention on a Saturday and the start of Sunday a lot.
"I played very well. I think The Open Championship, the U.S. Open I was in contention early on on Sundays. I made it to the Tour Championship on the PGA Tour, which I always think is a great achievement throughout the year.
"I would say my season has been really good so far. But then you always know however you finish the season is probably how you're going to feel about it at the end of the year.
"I have five events left hopefully. So as good as I felt the season was for a big chunk of it, I always feel like the final few events are sort of defining in how you probably feel when it comes to November and December and you look at how you're going to start the next year."
