Home hero Adrien Saddier is revelling in the chance to be performing on golf's biggest stages as he arrives at the FedEx Open de France third in the Race to Dubai Rankings.
The 33-year-old is no overnight snesation, with 207 DP World Tour appearances racked up since his debut in 2012, along with 117 on the HotelPlanner Tour.
He won the Fred Olsen Challenge de España on that circuit in 2016 but just missed out on elevation to the DP World Tour, something he achieved the following campaign, while he is also a three-time Qualifying School graduate, with his latest success there coming as recently as 2022.
He followed that with two season-long finishes inside the top 100 but it is this year where he is truly shining, registering a maiden win, four top tens and a Major debut heading into last week's BMW PGA Championship.
A play-off loss at Wentworth Club further raised his public profile and now, as he arrives at Golf de Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche as the highest-ranked French player in the world, he is glad to be making his mark.
"I think my game was pretty good this season with some great results like last week," he said. "I just showed what I can do on the big stage and I just look forward to do another good week here in France."
With a raised profile comes raised pressure, especially on home soil, but Saddier is taking it all in his stride with his family in tow.
"It feels great," he added. "Nice place. Family on my side. Exciting week ahead.
"Especially this week, a lot of media ask me some questions. So it's nice on an evening to just be in my bubble with my family. I like to just disconnect from here so it is quite good.
"It's good pressure I guess. I just want to have a good week in front of them (the fans) and if not, it doesn't matter. I just try to enjoy the friendship support, all my family support and just try to have a good week."
