Dubuisson delights French crowds at Alstom Open as thunderstorms disrupt first day

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Frenchman Victor Dubuisson delighted the home crowds with a three under par 68 at the Alstom Open de France in a first round disrupted by thunderstorms.

The 25 year old, pictured, had a share of the clubhouse lead, alongside Austrian Bernd Wiesberger and South African Jaco Van Zyl, when play was suspended just before 9pm, with Germany’s Max Kieffer one better at four under par with four holes remaining.
An early storm had also delayed the start of round one at Le Golf National, but Dubuisson soon found his rhythm, reaching the turn in level par then producing three birdies on the way home.
His Ryder Cup team-mate and playing partner Martin Kaymer, who won here in 2009, opened with a 69, while Graeme McDowell, looking for his third consecutive win in the €3million tournament, was one over par playing the last.
Quotes:
Victor Dubuisson
“I had a really unlucky bogey on 14 with three good shots, and then the most difficult holes were coming – 15, 16 and 18.  I managed to stay calm and make a really good birdie on 18.  It could have turned really ‑‑ on this course, it can turn really bad, and what I did today was very good especially with all this pressure. I’m very pleased. I feel the expectation and a little bit of pressure from the crowd, because I especially want to do well for them, more than in other tournaments. This one is like a Major for me.”
Bernd Wiesberger
“I played okay.  I was not driving it great early on, and I scrambled around and had a couple of four‑ and five‑footers for par. But the chances I had, I took nicely. I was just those two hiccups on the last, the three‑putt and not getting up and down from beside the green on the ninth.
“In general, given the windy conditions early on, I’m quite happy with that. I think it's just a great test overall.  From the first hole to the last, you're under pressure and you need to hit really good shots to make birdies.”
Jaco Van Zyl
“It’s one of those golf courses where there are a couple of holes you can score on, but you can never really let your guard down. But everything is kind of there. It’s just that one day I’ll be hitting it nicely and the putter is not behaving, and the next day the putter is behaving but I’m not hitting it as well.  I’m just waiting for it all to come back in one piece and then hopefully it will be a good week.”
Martin Kaymer
“You can take advantage of the front nine a little bit – you will have some chances because they don't play that long. The 15th to 18th are very challenging holes and I did very well there today.  So that was a huge motivation for the front nine, so my back nine. I’m very pleased with two under. The last few tournaments, I’ve played with Rory (McIlroy) in Wentworth and Ireland, and then the US Open, that was a huge one. Last week I played in my own country and this week played with Victor (Dubuisson), so I feel like there's a lot going on around my groups, but it's nice. You don’t want to play in front of ten people, you want to play in front of hundreds.”