After such an exiting weekend of golf at Kiawah Island, normal business resumes with players returning to their respective Tours on the European and PGA stage.
I’ll post a preview tomorrow for the Charles Schwab Challenge on the PGA Tour but for now let’s focus on the Made in Himmerland at Himmerland, Farso, Denmark.
Before I continue I want to say a massive congratulations to the one and only Phil Mickelson, who won the USPGA Championship. Who said 50 year olds were passed it???
What an amazing achievement from the South Paw from San Diego, California. He made history, becoming the oldest player to ever win a major and I doubt that will be emulated anytime soon if ever. What a hero, role model and champion.
I was a bag of nerves just watching him, especially on the final round. Shots were being exchanged at almost every hole, it was swinging one way then the other, the look on Mickelson’s face, especially the last few holes, I thought; “Is he actually going to make it to the 18th hole?”, but he did and held his nerve marvellously to the delight of golfing fans all around the world, absolute class!
Although I didn’t manage to pick the winner I did single out Jon Rahm to beat Bryson De Chambeau as my Nap of the tournament in the 72 hole matchbet. I mentioned Bryson would find some trouble with wayward monster drives and that’s exactly what happened especially when he was playing catch up on the final round.
Well done to everyone who bagged a winner throughout the tournament and if you were on Phil Mickelson pre-tournament at 200/1 then I want to know you.
So let’s get on with this weeks action where the 156-strong field will all be competing in Denmark on this par 71 Himmerland track for the €1.5M purse with the winner receiving the title and €230,500.
This course is much shorter than most on the European Tour so the key attribute this week will be power and accuracy from tee to green. It will definitely suit a big hitter with some greens reachable from the tee.
The weather is forecast for conditions to be cold with showers expected on the Thursday with a slight breeze but clearing up for the remainder with sunny intervals throughout the weekend.
The event will be screened on Sky Sports Golf and Sky Sports Main Event with live coverage starting at 12pm GMT Thursday.
Wilco Nienaber
So let’s get on with the selections and for my main pick this week at Himmerland I’m going to advise Wilco Nienaber 55/1 EW Bet365.
My reasoning behind this is that South African golfers have been performing at almost every tournament recently and Nienaber is no exception.
He won the Dimension Data Pro Am recently in his native South Africa with a -19 scorecard. He was tied with Henric Sturehed but went on to win the play-off at the third extra hole. Nienaber carded a final round 65, seven under par with a birdie at the last hole to make the play-off.
The young 21 year old South African is still looking for his maiden European Tour title but this course is set up nicely for him and will suit his long ball hitting game. He has been known to hit the ball in excess of 430 yards so he can make Himmerland much shorter than it already is with a few monster drives on these reachable holes.
Although the young South African is yet to make his breakthrough on the European Tour he has been knocking on the door on a couple of occasions.
He was so unlucky last year at the Joburg Open when finishing runner up to Joachim Hansen. He was also in contention at the English Championship at Hanbury Manor, also last year where he finished in fourth place, that could have been much closer if it wasn’t for run away winner Andy Sullivan.
At only 21 years old, Nienaber is certainly showing signs that his first European Tour victory in coming his way soon and it could well be this weekend in Denmark at the Made in Himmerland at an attractive price.
Robert McIntyre
For my next selection I’m going to suggest our very own Robert McIntyre 12/1 EW Bet365.
The Flying Scotsman has now played in five majors and made the cut at every attempt, that’s an achievement in itself.
The 24 year old from Oban is ranked inside the Top 50 in the world, currently 46th and if he can bring some form to Denmark then he will almost certainly be the one they all have to beat.
Bob was an amazing 12th at The Masters last month playing some stunning golf. In his last fifteen tournaments McIntyre has finished inside the Top 10 on five occasions with eight of those inside the Top 20.
One of those was a victory at the Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Showdown , his maiden European Tour victory. There is definitely much more to come from the young Scot and I feel a major is just a matter of time away from happening.
He finished runner up at the British Masters and more significantly on this very course last time this event was played in 2019 when it was named Made in Denmark he also finished runner up.
He seemed to enjoy playing on this Himmerland course with a -13 scorecard just one shot behind the eventual winner Bernd Wiesberger.
If Bob can produce some of his magic then he can do on and win this event not a problem and prove why he is ranked above most of the others in this field with another victory in the European Tour.
Rasmus Hojgaard
For my next pick I’m going to single out Rasmus Hojgaard 28/1 EW Bet365.
Another youngster on the circuit at only 20 years old, Hojgaard has been on my radar recently. He is on home soil for this weeks event and knows this course better than most which should give him a slight advantage.
He has just managed to squeeze inside the top 100 ranked golfers in the world and this talented kid will only continue to rise up the rankings. He has already won on the European Tour when winning the ISPS Handa UK Championship in 2020.
He can back that up with a runners up spot when finishing second at the British Masters and third place at the English Championship also last year. Hojgaard is another who I feel has a major coming his way sooner rather than later and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was before he turned 25.
He also won the Mauritius Open on the Africa, Asia Europe Tour so knows what it feels like to win a big tournament at such a young age, he was only a teenager when winning both his tournaments.
I just feel that the 28/1 on offer with seven places available represents amazing value for the young Dane and home advantage sets him up well for his second European Tour title.
Robert McIntyre v Bernd Wiesberger
For my final selection, it’s the customary 72 hole matchbet and this week I’m going for Robert McIntyre to beat Bernd Wiesberger 10/11 Nap Betfair
