THE European Tour returns to normal this week with the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
The West Course was opened in 1926 and has had some alterations under the guidance of Ernie Els. There was a lot of remodelling in 2009-10 which included the par-five 18th which was usually a guaranteed birdie.
Now with a stream in front of the green it’s become a risk/reward hole. Last year there were around a dozen eagles over the four days but also 49 bogeys and 18 double bogeys or worse.
The course is a tight, tree-lined heathland type layout and last year all the greens were changed from bentgrass/poa unua grass to purely bentgrass which makes for a truer and faster roll. Greens in Regulation and Putting Average could be the relevant stats.
- Course: Wentworth Club (West Course), Surrey.: 7284 yards, Par 72.
Alexander Levy
The Frenchman is having a great season with four top 10s, including a win at the Trophee Hassan II in April. With the Ryder Cup in Paris this year he will be desperate to earn his slot in the team.
Also from this week forward any qualification points for the Ryder Cup (ie Road to Dubai and World Points) will be multiplied by 1.5 so he will be eager to continue his form.
With a couple of fourth-place finishes in the NBO Oman Open and the Omega Dubai Desert Classic his form is solid. At the moment he is ninth in the Ryder Cup rankings and it would be great for French golf for him to be included in the team.
- GIR: 77.1% (4th). Putting Average: 1.722 (21st).
Tommy Fleetwood
At the start of this season Tommy played three tournaments on the European Tour and won the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and sixth-place finishes in both the UBS Hong Kong Open and Omega Dubai Desert Classic.
He’s being playing a lot more on the PGA Tour and is making a name for himself. At the Masters he finished a credible T17 and since then a T4 at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and a T7 a couple of weeks ago at The Players.
Tommy is sitting 6th in the Ryder Cup rankings and expect him to keep pushing towards confirming his place in the team.
GIR: 78.06% (3rd). Putting Avergae: 1.756 (65th).
Adrian Otaegui
Although Adrian won last week at the Belgium Knockout that’s not what I was looking at when selecting him. Apart from last week he has five top-20 finishes since the Oman Open in February, culminating in a second at the Volvo China Open at the end of April.
He won the Paul Lawrie Match Play last year and is not far off his prize winnings for last year. In fact when you look at his figures for his three years on Tour he has improved every year. I have high hopes for Adrian and expect him to be another Spaniard to rise to the top.
- GIR: 75.2% (10th). Putting Avergae: 1.764 (83rd).
Recommended Bets
- 1.5pts ew Alexander Levy (Coral, 50-1) – 7 places
- 1.5pts ew Tommy Fleetwood (Coral, 14-1) – 7 places
- 1.5pts ew Adrian Otaegui (Paddy Power, 55-1) – 8 places
