The European Tour is back in England this week as another course with former glories attached to it comes back onto the schedule as those teeing it up head to The London Club in Kent for the newly devised Cazoo Classic.
It has to be said that these UK events haven’t landed in the best position in the calendar when you consider the Olympics recently and the FedEx Cup play-offs being on the horizon but they have still produced some excellent golf and this week is unlikely to be any different.
The Course
It is the Heritage Course at the London Club in Ash in Kent which is the venue for the players this week. This course twice hosted the European Open in 2008 and 2009, so while it is historical, there is some form to go by this week. In saying that the game of golf has moved on so much in 12 years that just what we can take from those two events remains to be seen. The course itself is a par 72 which only measures 7,327 yards so it isn’t a beast and three of the par 5s are reachable to most in the field.
The one thing we do know about this track is that it was designed by Jack Nicklaus and all his courses have a similar trend in that they are fairly easy off the tee but then the demand comes in the approach to tiny greens which are well guarded either with water or sand. That appears to be no different here so we are looking for players who are excelling with the irons both into the greens and around them. Obviously a hot putter is never a bad thing. The course should be firm and fast this week with the weather looking good for the four days.
The Field
This is one of the better fields we have had on the European Tour recently in terms of players ranked inside the top 100 on the Official World Golf Rankings. There are five of them and then another six inside the top 150 in the world. They are all headed up by the world number 47 Victor Perez while number 66 in the rankings Bernd Wiesberger is an eye catching attraction to the tournament. The other three members of the top 100 are Andy Sullivan, Daniel van Tonder and John Catlin.
Among those just outside that position is Richard Bland, who is looking to add this title to the British Masters one he won earlier in the season, Brandon Stone, the Finnish pair of Sami Valimaki and Kalle Samooja, Rasmus Hojgaard and Calum Hill. Improvers such as Masahiro Kawamura and Vincent Norrman are also in the field as are some seasoned campaigners such as Thorbjorn Olesen, Eddie Pepperell and Jamie Donaldson.
Market Leaders
Bernd Wiesberger is no stranger to winning on the European Tour. He has already done it this year in the Made in Denmark tournament and he has done it eight times in all so he probably represents a worthy favourite at 14/1. Although he is only the second highest ranked player in the field here he probably sets the standard and is still keen on getting on that Ryder Cup side so knows that winning events like this will do him no harm whatsoever. The only concern would be his putting but to be fair few in this field will have too much knowledge of the greens so he looks a worthy favourite, if a little on the short side price wise.
Andy Sullivan comes into the week as a second favourite after failing as a favourite for a number of the recent events. He tends to fare pretty well in England in particular so that would make him somewhat attractive at 22/1. The last four event form of MC-26-MC-48 would put me off a little as a couple of those tournaments have probably been in weaker fields than this one. If it all clicks though he is still capable of winning an event like this so I wouldn’t rush to oppose him even if I wasn’t backing him.
Masahiro Kawamura arrives here with last three week form figures of 5-3-16 so he is entitled to feel that if he can repeat those efforts he could go very well at this tournament. He is a 28/1 shot on the best prices along with the Swedish player who is making a name for himself in the form of Vincent Norrman. Normann has only played five events but he has form of 14-5-61-10-11 which should see him as competitive as well. He might be just a touch short on his price at this stage in his career however.
Richard Bland is the only other player in the field who is shorter than 33/1. You can find him at 30/1 on the best prices. This is the first time he will have teed it up since The Open which might not be such a bad thing given the huge run of golf he had prior to that event where from winning the British Masters he went 1-3-50-4-15 through to the Scottish Open with the 50 being the US Open which he led at halfway. He’s from the south of England so must have taken in this course in the past and he rates as a leading challenger if he isn’t too rusty.
Main Bets
Richard Bland has already won one tournament in England this year and I think he has an excellent chance of another one here. He is relentlessly straight off the tee and that six week or so burst where he was contending every week his iron play was exquisite whether it was the long irons or the short ones. If there is a weakness to his game it remains with the putter but he’ll probably have experienced these greens as much as anyone whether it was in the two European Opens of the past which he was in the field for or just practice as someone who is local. Assuming there is no rust after three weeks off I think Bland is a standout runner this week.
There is an all or nothing element to the play of Mikko Korhonen as evidenced with finishes of 3-MC-7-MC-MC-3 in his last six tournaments. The two thirds were in the UK so when he gets it right he gets it very right. Usually the Finn is a player who thrives when there isn’t a huge amount of a test off the tee. That is very much the case here. In those two third placed finishes Korhonen has led the field in strokes gained on approach gaining more than 10 strokes in that department. In the other top ten he was sixth in strokes gained putting so if it all comes together he is a leading runner here.
Outsiders
Matthieu Pavon is another who is showing some excellent iron play in recent times and although his results haven’t been to the level he would have expected, much of his troubles are coming on the greens where he should be ok this week because there aren’t many who will be familiar with the putting surfaces here. They are not the biggest either so poor putters can win here. The last winner on this course was a Frenchman which might mean something as in the main they are excellent drivers of the ball and aggressive with their irons. They are the traits that should go well here so I’ll take a punt on the Finn.
I’ll also take a chance on Niall Kearney who was in the top 10 at the Hero Open last week where he ranked second for scrambling and offered up good stats right throughout his bag. He had a taste of being in the mix in Germany a couple of months ago and although he didn’t go well with the lead on that occasion he hasn’t shied away since then. He finished last week with a couple of rounds of 66 which is good scoring and if everything continues to work in the bag then he has the potential to take a tournament of this kind down at a fair price.
Tips
Back R.Bland to win Cazoo Classic (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 29.00 with Betfair (1/5 1-7)
Back M.Korhonen to win Cazoo Classic (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 31.00 with Betfair (1/5 1-7)
Back them here:
Back M.Pavon to win Cazoo Classic (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 81.00 with Boylesports (1/5 1-7)
Back N.Kearney to win Cazoo Classic (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 81.00 with Boylesports (1/5 1-7)
Back them here:
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