While the stars of the golfing world away in Florida there is a much lower key European Tour event this week after the thrills and spills of GolfSixes last weekend. That was a fantastic new concept but we return to the norm of 72 hole strokeplay this week in the Portugal Open.
This is the first time the tournament will be played at European Tour level since 2010 so it is good to have it back on the calendar.
Recent Winners
2010 – Thomas Bjorn
2009 – Michael Hoey
2008 – Gregory Bourdy
2007 – Pablo Martin Benavides
The Course
With a return for the tournament after such a long time out we are on a new course this week. Morgado Golf and Country Club in Portimao is the venue for the tournament. It is a par 73 which measures 7,419 yards so it isn’t overly long especially in the humid air.
The course is said to be an inland links type course with wide open fairways but Scottish type bunkering so those who can get it out there and those who can scramble should get the best out of this golf course.
The Field
There is no hiding away from the fact that this is one of the weaker fields of the year. That is understandable with so many star names away at Sawgrass. All eyes will be on the home hero Ricardo Gouveia who heads the field this week.
A number of up and coming European Tour players are joined by the best from the Challenge Tour with everyone aiming for the benefits a win on the European Tour will bring so while it isn’t the best field it will be a competitive event.
Market Leaders
Fresh from impressing in GolfSixes last week Ricardo Gouveia is the favourite this week at 14/1. Trevor Fisher Jr is next in the betting at 22/1 with the former Open champion Paul Lawrie a 28/1 shot. Obvious cases can be made for all three and the fact it is 33/1 bar that trio it is easy to see how open this tournament is.
[the_ad_group id=”3624″]
Main Bet
I’m not getting too involved in this tournament. A poor field and a new course added to a lack of TV coverage doesn’t make this much of a betting proposition but I will go with one main bet and a couple of outsiders.
Pep Angles belts the ball a long way which is never a bad thing on a links course and being Spanish he’ll have plenty of imagination and touch when it is necessary too so I like him to come through and have a good week. He has had some half decent efforts in much stronger fields this season so if he can acclimatise to the golf course right away then he has a good chance of going deep on Sunday at a perfectly fair price in this market.
Outsiders
Tom Lewis has shown form on links courses in the past and he has also won in Portugal. His sole win on the Tour came in the Portugal Masters in 2011 so he should have fond memories in the country. Lewis put up a couple of top 20 efforts at the beginning of the season and playing a type of golf he has had success in there’s no reason why he won’t go well.
Eddie Pepperell has some really good form on links courses and while this might be a different type of links course in that it isn’t on the coast, many of the challenges are the same so the Englishman should find things to his liking this week. Pepperell won’t want to be heading back to Q-school so he has a big incentive to do well this week. I reckon he’ll be comfortable on this course and at a huge price I’ll pay to see how he goes.
Tips
Back P.Angles to win Portugal Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 34.00 with Ladbrokes (1/4 1-5)
Back him here:
Back T.Lewis to win Portugal Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 67.00 with William Hill (1/5 1-6)
Back him here:
Back E.Pepperell to win Portugal Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 71.00 with NetBet (1/4 1-5)
Back him here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2017
