Tom Vaillant: “The Albatross at the Golf National? I know him like the back of my hand! »

In two weeks, between the Spanish Open and the Dunhill Links Championship, Tom Vaillant gained 24 places in the Race, going from 112th to 88th, thereby ensuring his full card for 2025. It is therefore free of charge. a serious weight that the golfer from Cannes-Mougins arrives at the FedEx Open de France. A tournament where it all started for him in September 2022.

Comments collected by Lionel VELLA

Still in Scotland this Monday morning before takeoff scheduled for 11:00 a.m. local, Tom Vaillant22 years old, with his very solid 7th place at the Dunhill Links Championship, set foot in France at 2:00 p.m. before joining the Golf National for a work session around 5:00 p.m. with his coach, Jean-François Lucquin. He will be one of the nineteen French people entered for this 106th edition of the oldest tournament in continental Europe which begins this Thursday in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. Perhaps one of the best chances for the French clan this year…

GOLF PLANETE: For a first at the Dunhill Links Championship, you finished 7th in the final. Can we say that the mission is accomplished?

Tom VAILLANT : Yes, although I would have liked it to end even better. But it’s clear that playing the win for more than 63 holes, in such a tournament with multiple Major winners in the field, that means something. So I have to focus especially on these first 63 holes and this is what will allow me to work on good things so that the next time, all this will last perhaps 65, 68 or even the next time another 72 holes …

GP: For our part, we would be tempted to say that you were still in the running for victory with five or six holes remaining…

T.V. : Yes, it’s true but I think that the stop at 9 gave me a little blow. I mismanaged this hole (Editor’s note, played in the par). There were a lot of leaderboards there and I looked at them for a long time. At least a good half hour since we couldn’t play in front… There, I realized that I could win a DP World Tour tournament, that I was well up to the level, that I could complete my card for 2025 … There were a lot of emotions during these 30 minutes and the recovery no longer had the same momentum. In any case, I felt that I was a little less conquering as had been the case at the start of the tournament. There, I was a little more about wanting a result. And that’s what made me no longer play too much for the right reasons. But it’s clear that I was in the running for a win for a long time. And that says a lot about my performance…

To manage for example this experience on Sunday in front of the leaderboard, I think that I must above all refer to boys who have experienced this for 25 years, like a Raph Jacquelin or a Greg Havret.

GP: What lessons can you learn after such an experience in a very competitive European Tour tournament?

T.V. : I tell myself that I can compete with the best on several different courses. It’s also up to me to better manage my expectations, especially in such important tournaments. To manage for example this experience on Sunday in front of the leaderboard, I think that I must above all refer to boys who have experienced this for 25 years, like a Raph Jacquelin or a Greg Havret. Boys who know how to handle these situations when they find themselves at the top of a leaderboard. They have known everything, seen everything, disappointments as well as great victories… They are the ones, I am convinced, who will be of very good advice to me.

GP: You will be able to discuss it this week at the Golf National with Grégory Havret for example, who is one of the nineteen French people participating in this FedEx Open de France 2024…

T.V. : This is going to be awesome. Doing a French Open with Greg Havret is still pretty crazy. I’ve seen him on television all my life, and to play a French Open with him is crazy!

This is the first time in my life that I will play two years in a row on the same circuit. For the last four to five years, I have been going from circuit to circuit, I am always a little in the unknown.

GP: You now occupy 88th place in the Race after having collected 24 points in the space of two weeks. Is it also a real satisfaction to say that we are going to improve our gaming category for 2025?

T.V. : If I had a result objective at the start of the season, it was to make the map. And firstly as soon as possible, before the end of the current financial year. It is now done. It was hard to achieve on Sunday evening after the Dunhill Links. This is the first time in my life that I will play two years in a row on the same circuit. For the last four to five years, I have been going from circuit to circuit, I am always a little in the unknown. There, I will know what to expect and know what I need to prepare for to really perform well next year. It’s a really nice feeling.

GP: And then above all you will freely develop your calendar, choose the tournaments you will play, unlike this year…

T.V. : Exactly ! I will have to analyze with my staff the periods of the year when I feel good. I am often in the mix at the beginning of tournament phases, the first and second weeks… This was again confirmed with Spain and Scotland (Editor’s note, after a break at the BMW PGA Championship). This means that I am also starting to know myself better, which will allow me to actually establish a timetable for this.

GP: You are at the FedEx Open de France this week. This is where it all started for you since you played your first tournament on the European Tour at Golf National in 2022…

TV: It’s a pretty special tournament for me. I attach a lot of importance to it, as I do to my country. Everything that is the French Championship, the French Open, is close to my heart. I was lucky enough to win national titles as an amateur. Two years ago, I was able to rub shoulders with the top of the leaderboard for three laps since I was in the top 10 (Editor’s note, before taking 45th place on Sunday after a lap completed in 77). So I know what to expect this week, what type of challenge we will have at Golf National, etc. Complicated conditions are forecast for Thursday. It will be a tough battle. It’s up to me to prepare myself physically but also mentally, beyond the golfing aspect, because we know that the Natio is above all a physical and nervous test.

For the moment, I am still no one in French golf. Eyes will not be focused on me, they will be first on the stars, on the big names in French golf that we can have…

GP: You present this Albatross route as “monstrous”. For what reason?

T.V. : He leaves no respite. At no time do we say to ourselves: “ Well, here we have a three-four hole phase where we will be able to breathe and be on autopilot a bit! » On the contrary, I think you have to be constantly ultra-lucid and have all your senses alert for five hours, for eighteen holes. For me, this is the most important. Be lucid and have clear ideas at all times, in any condition. And also know how to hang on. The one who is in front will be the one who wanted it a little more than the others. It’s a chance to be able to play our National Open on a course that is simply extraordinary.

GP: Which doesn’t hurt, you know this Albatros route almost by heart. How many times have you played it?

T.V. : I know him like the back of my hand. I had the chance to do two years of preparation on it for the Amateur World Championship (in 2022). This weighs enormously. We did everything on this course. Now I haven’t played it in two years. I don’t know if there are little things that have changed, I guess not. It will be important at the start of the week to take a little time to find my bearings and my lines. It’s clear that this is an advantage compared to a lot of players. I will try to take advantage of it but it is a course that does not forgive any mistakes. The slightest little inattention and you are immediately punished.

GP: Will the pressure be different from another tournament given that you are playing in France, in your national Open, in front of an audience that will be mostly behind you?

Yes, it is indeed a pressure that will have to be managed as best as possible. For the moment, I am still no one in French golf. Eyes will not be focused on me, they will be first on the stars, on the big names in French golf that we can have… So, I will try to do my tournament on my own, to manage it as I do every week. And then the fact of having made the card in the last two tournaments, that takes a lot of pressure off. This way I arrive much more liberated. Arriving liberated in a French Open helps rather than having an obligation to achieve results or to play your season over a week, on such a course. However, it’s not a bonus either because I still have to get a top 70 in the Race for Abu Dhabi but ten places by ten places every week, I should normally be there if we stick to this logic. I took 24 places in two weeks, I have eighteen left to take. So, it’s not rest. You have to push to finish as well as possible and thus be totally satisfied with this year.

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