British Open 2016: Players wear ribbons to mourn terror victims in Nice, France
Clement Sordet mourns his home country as The Open Championship honors Nice with ribbons and lowering the French flag to half-mast
Dozens of people were senselessly murdered in Nice, France, during Bastille Day on Thursday. That hit home for several players in The Open Championship, many of whom play all over Europe during their careers. Some of them are from France, and one of those hit hardest is Clement Sordet.
Sordet, who went to Texas Tech and lives in Nice, won the Turkish Airlines Challenge in May which is part of the Challenge Tour (the European Tour's minor leagues). He has played just four European Tour tournaments in his career. This is his first career major championship.
Sordet shot 75-75 at Royal Troon on Thursday and Friday and won't play the weekend, but he chatted after his round about how he felt on Thursday night and Friday morning after finding out about the news.
"I woke up at four in the morning because I had an early tee time," said Sordet. "I knew straight away at four in the morning I got a text, and like some people were asking if we were safe, but we were here. My girlfriend is from Nice, and she has family there. It was a big party last night because it was the 14th of July, so we had a bunch of friends and it was my girlfriend's mom there. They're safe now, so everything's okay. Yeah, yeah, but I feel really bad for all of the other guys."
Several other players wore black ribbons on their hats in support of France.
"I tried not to think about it, but that's why I had this on my hat," said Sordet. "But I was just trying to enjoy my last day at The Open. I'm really proud to be French, and I think we all need to support each other, and that's about it."
It was a heavy day for everyone as The Open flew the French flag at half mast on the 18th hole.
