Cazoo, Europe’s leading online car retailer, which makes buying and selling a car as simple and seamless as ordering any other product online, has today been named as the new Title Partner of the Open de France on the DP World Tour and follows Cazoo’s launch in France at the end of last year.
The tournament will now be known as the Cazoo Open de France and the deal includes significant on-course and off-course branding to include tee boxes and markers, greenside boards, par and yardage boards as well as caddy bibs and branding. The new agreement is an extension of the current partnership between Cazoo and the DP World Tour which already includes the Cazoo Open in Wales and the Cazoo Classic in England.
The 104th edition of the Open de France will return to Le Golf National, venue of the 2018 Ryder Cup, which first played host to France’s national Open in 1991, when Argentinian Eduardo Romero overcame Sam Torrance and José María Olazábal by two strokes. Nicolas Colsaerts is the most recent winner of the tournament, after the former Ryder Cup winner claimed an emotional triumph in 2019, the Belgian’s first title in seven years.
The 2022 Cazoo Open de France will have a prize fund of €3million – double the amount played for in the last edition of the tournament in 2019. The tournament will take place on 22-25 September 2022, the same week in the golfing calendar as the 2018 Ryder Cup, where Thomas Bjørn’s Team Europe defeated the United States 17½ – 10½ in France’s first ever hosting of golf’s greatest team event.
Cazoo was founded in 2018 by British entrepreneur Alex Chesterman and is one of the fastest growing businesses in Europe, pioneering the shift to online car buying. It listed on the NYSE last year and launched in France at the end of last year. Cazoo has sold over 50,000 cars online in the UK since its launch just over two years ago, as consumers have embraced the selection, value, transparency and convenience of buying used cars fully online.
Alex Chesterman OBE, Founder & CEO of Cazoo said: “We’re delighted to be extending our partnership with the European Tour and adding Europe’s oldest national Open golf tournament to our portfolio of sports sponsorships. Following our recent launch in France, this deal gives us exposure to a great new audience and we look forward to engaging with the fans as we continue to deliver the best car buying experience across Europe.”
Guy Kinnings, Deputy CEO of the European Tour group, said: “We are delighted to have Cazoo on board as the Title Partner of one of golf’s most historic tournaments, the Open de France. Since joining the DP World Tour commercial family earlier this year, Cazoo have been a pleasure to work with and continue to show a strong commitment to growing the game of golf in new markets. Together with the Fédération Française de Golf, we look forward to working with Cazoo on an exciting new chapter for this prestigious tournament.”
Pascal Grizot, President of the French Golf Federation, said: “I am glad and proud that such an important company as Cazoo has chosen to support our national open. I wish to thank the European Tour group and their staff, who have worked tirelessly to make it happen. This partnership proves that our historical tournament remains highly attractive and will continue to serve as an astounding showcase event for French golf. I am delighted with this dynamic announcement.”
