Since 1979, when the Great Britain & Ireland team shaped into a team full of Europe’s biggest stars, three Frenchmen have appeared at the Ryder Cup.
And with very contrasting records.
Step forward Jean van de Velde, Thomas Levet and Victor Dubuisson.
The trio of Frenchmen have picked up 3 ½ points from seven matches, with the most recent appearance coming from Dubuisson at The 2014 Ryder Cup.
Take a look at each player’s record at the Ryder Cup below.
1999 - Jean van de Velde
Jean van de Velde became the first Frenchman to appear at the Ryder Cup in 1999 when he automatically qualified after a strong year on the Tour.
However, his only match would end in a similar fate to Europe’s.
The Sunday singles, with Europe comfortably leading, would be van de Velde’s first and final appearance at a Ryder Cup, where he was comfortably dispatched by Davis Love III 6 and 5.
A sensational comeback from the Americans saw Europe defeated 14 ½ - 13 ½.
2004 - Thomas Levet
In 2004, Thomas Levet became only the second Frenchman to represent Europe at a Ryder Cup, when he played his way into Bernhard Langer’s side.
However, after his first two matches – a 3 and 2 foursomes defeat alongside Miguel Angel Jimenez to Chris DiMarco & Jay Haas, and a 4 and 3 defeat to Phil Mickelson and David Toms in same format with the same partner – it was looking like he would be following a similar fate to his French predecessor van de Velde.
Levet would, however, turn around his fortunes when he defeated Fred Funk by one hole, to aid Europe to a memorable 18 ½ - 9 ½ victory at Oakland Hills Country Club, Michigan.
This remains Europe’s largest margin of victory over the United States, which they repeated two years later at The K Club.
2014 - Victor Dubuisson
Victor Dubuisson became the third Frenchman to represent Europe at the Ryder Cup in 2014 at Gleneagles, where he enjoyed an unbeaten week.
He formed a formidable foursomes partnership alongside Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell, as the pair won both matches they played together.
The first came against the strong foursomes pair of Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley, 3 and 2, followed by a 5 and 4 victory over Jimmy Walker and Rickie Fowler in the Saturday afternoon session.
The rookie would complete his unbeaten week by picking up ½ a point in the final singles match against Zach Johnson, with Europe victorious 16 ½ - 11 ½.
