What was this year’s toughest major? US Open? The Open? You can have your pick! But now that the major season is over, all eyes are set on the Paris Olympics since golfers will start their competition for golf in about two days at Le Golf National. In the fight for the highly coveted title, a lingering question remains: “How challenging is Le Golf National?”

It’s still uncertain whether the course will offer fans nail-biting golf or meet a similar fate as Valhalla. However, before teeing off in Paris, pros like Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, and others have some takeaways that might help you grasp the difficulty of the course.

What do Rory McIlroy, John Rahm, and more have to say about the Paris Olympics greens?

While the gold medalist Xander Schauffele isn’t familiar with the course, McIlroy and Rahm have the taste of it thanks to the 2018 Ryder Cup.  Interestingly there are no driveable par 4s and any reachable par 5s. Considering that it might require some aggressiveness that’s what McIlroy believes and said “If you start to hit it off-line, it really does punish you. There’s a few holes where you have to be conservative and try to take your pars. I think you can be a little aggressive on the par 5s. And those last four holes will bring quite a lot of excitement.” 

Designed by Hubert Chesneau, this permanent home of the French Open is both beautiful and challenging, making it a sweet poison for golfers. Explaining its beauty as well as the challenging aspects of  Le Golf National Rahm said “It’s a great design; challenging in every aspect. You do hit almost every single club in the bag. When you miss the green, you have many opportunities. It leaves a lot more to the imagination, especially around the greens. I can’t think of anything bad to say about the course. It doesn’t get boring. I can’t hit the driver on every hole because I’m going to be in deep trouble. Being able to hit 5-woods, 3-irons off the tee makes it fun.” Although both of them made this statement back in 2018, there haven’t been any major changes to the course since then.

First, the PGA Championship then the Open Championship, Xander Schauffele is the golfer who has a lot of spotlight right now. Although he is currently in great form the golfer is taking careful steps toward the Olympics and said “We’ll have to see how much time I have and how much work I need to put in to get ready. I may pop in early (to Le Golf National) and get some extra rounds in. It looks like you have to be really strategic around the property and place your shots smartly” as per Today’s Golfer Website.

While all the pros are sharing similar thoughts about the course, are the former Ryder Cup captains in agreement?

How is Le Golf National as per former Ryder Cup captains?

The 2018 Ryder Cup kept every European and US Team fan on the edge till the end of the tournament and special thanks go to 18th Hole. It is a water-lined par-4 of 471 which requires constant focus from tee to green. A large body of water runs along the left side of the entire hole, which caused significant trouble for Team United States during the tournament back in 2018. Explaining the finish the 2018 Team US captain Jim Furyk said “That finish, coming down 15, 16, 17, 18; the amount of people, the noise, the cheers, the crowd in that area is going to be an incredible site.”

While Rory McIlroy believes LeGolf National requires some aggressiveness former European Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke believes “The course itself is such a wonderful test, It’s fair. If you get too aggressive, there’s a lot of water in play,” as revealed on Peacock. Overall, Le Golf National is recognized as one of the best championship courses in Europe. France is also home to Matthieu Pavon, who also shared his thoughts on the course recently.

What Matthieu Pavon thinks about LeGolf National?

Pavon is part of the 60 male golfers at the Paris Olympics. He is representing his country for the first time and the Olympics being in France itself can’t make it better for this French Golfer. Although he is excited about representing his country and said “The Olympics are part of history. It’s great that golf is back, and I can’t wait to represent my country in France.” At the same time, the golfer is aware of LeGolf National as well.

“Tough!” was the first word that came out of his mouth when he was asked about his thoughts on the course. He further added “When they set it up for big tournaments it is really tough. There is lots of water around the golf course. The stretch from the 15th to the 18th is probably one of the hardest I have ever played.” The golfer boldly called out the course as one of the top three toughest courses and said it would be a good challenge to represent his country there.

After knowing about all the takeaways from the golfers, what kind of challenge the Paris Olympics will present? Share your thoughts in the comments below!