[PHOTO: Jasper Wax]
Eddie Pepperell is perhaps best known as a funnyman during his days on the European/DP World Tour. His sense of humour has played out on his Twitter account and through various videos from the tour over the years.
But what happened to Pepperell overnight in France was anything but funny.
RELATED: Eddie Pepperell reveals shocking pace of play fines on the DP World Tour
The 34-year-old from England, who has played most of his golf on the HotelPlanner Tour this year (formerly the European Challenge Tour), made nine birdies to shoot a third-round 66 in the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge in France. He was tied for lead.
However, just prior to the start of the final round of the HotelPlanner Tour event, the tour sent out a notification that the co-leader, a winner of two European Tour events, had to withdraw because of a neck injury. With that, yes, the leader of the event was not able to compete in the last 18 holes for a chance to win his first event since the British Masters in 2018.
'So far this week, I’ve played the golf I used to play.'
Eddie Pepperell is in contention heading into the final day in France 🎥#LeVaudreuilGolfChallenge pic.twitter.com/V3Oi3eRD4D
— HotelPlanner Tour (@HPlanner_Tour) June 28, 2025
“So far this week, I’ve played the golf I used to play,” Pepperell said on Saturday after the 66. “I’ve hit a lot of 3-woods, and I’ve been hitting my irons well again, which is the formula I’ve been looking for. I’ll try my hardest to keep it for as long as possible.”
To add to the story, Pepperell was playing so poorly at the start the year that he opted to take six weeks off from competition. In his first eight events of 2025, he has four missed cuts and had a WD, the last coming at the Turkish Airlines Open on the DP World Tour.
Pepperell took his break, then returned last week and missed the cut in the HotelPlanner Tour’s Blot Play9 event in France. That makes his progress this week even more impressive, shooting 70-67-66 to sit at 13-under-par total after 54 holes.
Without Pepperell, the final round played out and it was Englishman David Horsey who birdied the 72nd hole to shoot a final-round 69 then topped Daniel Young, James Allan and Joseba Torres in a four-man playoff with a birdie on the first sudden-death hole.