Colsaerts wins French Open to end seven-year title drought

SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France: Nicolas Colsaerts held on to seal a gripping one-shot victory over Denmark’s Joachim B Hansen at the French Open, claiming his first European Tour title for seven years on Sunday at Le Golf National.

The big-hitting Belgian led by three strokes overnight but made several errors as South African George Coetzee and Hansen both moved ahead briefly on the back nine.

But Colsaerts recovered and kept his nerve on the final three holes to card a one-over-par fourth round of 72 and win on 12-under for the tournament.

“It’s very special. I mean, the French Open for me is very special because I’m French-speaking,” said the 36-year-old, who was part of Europe’s 2012 Ryder Cup-winning team in the ‘Miracle at Medinah’, but has since slipped to 424th in the world rankings.