Noren triumphs in Paris after Kinhult collapse

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Paris, July 2: Alex Noren birdied two of his final three holes to make up a seven-shot deficit in the final round and win the Open de France title.

Even after a superb six-under 65 in the third round, the Swede was some way off the pace at Le Golf National as compatriot Marcus Kinhult led the way by two strokes.

But Kinhult endured a torrid final round, carding a five-over 76 with a triple-bogey at the fourth, to open the door for one of the chasing pack to claim victory.

With Sergio Garcia similarly off-colour on Sunday – a 74 seeing him finish four under - and world number two Justin Thomas only managing an even par round, it was Noren who stepped up.

One under at the turn, his sublime finish was enough to secure victory by a single shot from Russell Knox, Julian Suri and Chris Wood.

This was Noren's first European Tour win of 2018 and his 10th in total, having now triumphed at least once in each of the last four seasons.

The consolation for Kinhult after a desperately disappointing Sunday was that his final score of five under was still enough to book a place at The Open Championship, alongside Knox and Suri.