The DP World Tour returns for a normal event for the first time in a month this week when it heads to Europe for the opening time this season for the newly put together ISPS Handa Championship in Spain competition.
This will be the first time the event has been held as the tour continues to work around the difficulties of staging tournaments in Asia and certain other parts of the world. This is the week which kicks off a longer than usual European swing.
The Course
We are at the Lakes Course at the Infinitum resort in Tarragona this week. This course doesn’t have much DP World Tour credentials but it has been used for the Q-School competition in the past so there will be a number of players teeing it up who have experienced the track in competitive play. The course is a par 70 which stretches just 6,963 yards and has an outward par of 34 and an inward slot of 36 with both the par fives in the last three holes.
Water is said to be in play on 14 of the holes but the fairways are wide so accuracy with the second shots is going to be key this week. This track is exposed so good exponents in the wind should make their way up the shortlist. I suspect putting isn’t going to be as much of an issue as the greens might well run slow to protect them from the wind. There is plenty of rain around in the lead up to the tournament so expect a soft course.
The Field
Given that we are in the middle of the major season in America it stands to reason that most of the top European players are keeping themselves on the other side of the pond for the meantime but some good quality DP World Tour players will be making their way to Spain this week including a few men who have already lifted silverware this season in the form of Nicolai Hojgaard, Pablo Larrazabal and Ryan Fox among one or two others.
There is some star quality in the field in the likes of Bernd Wiesberger and some decent DP World Tour maidens such as the home man Adri Arnaus, Laurie Canter and Julien Brun. The likes of John Catlin and Rasmus Hojgaard have won on this tour before and will be looking to do so again while there is also tee times for more seasoned players such as Thorbjorn Olesen, Alexander Bjork, Ross Fisher and Victor Perez.
Market Leaders
We have joint favourites this week in the form of Rasmus Hojgaard and Bernd Wiesberger. Both can be backed at 20/1 at the best prices. Hojgaard is interesting. He hasn’t been in the same form as his brother this year but in two spins around here he has finished sixth and fifth and that could be significant. Wiesberger is another who hasn’t been in fantastic form this season but unlike his Danish co-joint favourite he hasn’t tasted this course in competitive conditions so he certainly isn’t for me.
Adri Arnaus is next in the betting at 25/1. He is still a maiden on the European Tour which is always a concern for me although I do tend to override that when a player is at home because they will be used to the conditions. Prior to the Qatar Masters, Arnaus was in brilliant form but he could only finish T65 in his only spin at the Q-School here in 2017. That makes me think his strengths, namely his length and power off the tee, are negated here which is the biggest concern of all.
Pablo Larrazabal has already won on the DP World Tour this season, as has Nicolai Hojgaard, and both men are 28/1 to win this week. Larrazabal won the MyGolfLife Open and has four top six finishes in his last five starts. This is his debut here but you sense he won’t be disadvantaged by the test at hand. Hojgaard won the Ras al Khaimah Championship but has missed the cut in his four tournaments since then. In fact in his last nine tournaments he has a win, a second and a fourth and six missed cuts. His record here is mixed and he’s a little too up and down for my liking.
Romain Langasque has been in relatively decent form this year with four top 20s in seven starts so the 33/1 on him will be popular to certain people. To bolster his appeal he was fifth here the only time when he has been to the Q-School. The negative is probably that he can often flatter to deceive with the putter but when you consider so many players come in here fresh from a month off it would be no surprise if this is the week he delivers the goods.
Main Bets
Whenever there is a short track with a number of wedges likely to be in hand I’m never far away from Adrian Otaegui and the fact he is on home soil this week only further increases my liking for the Spaniard. Otaegui is one of the best iron players in the field here and has finished in the top five in two of his last four starts. If there is one negative it is that he goes up against this course in a competitive environment for the first time but he’ll certainly be fine with the windy conditions having won on a Scottish links course and the accuracy part of this track will be right up his street. I think he’s a leading bet here.
Sihwan Kim has won twice on the Asian Tour in Thailand in recent weeks and a lot of courses used in that part of the world require accuracy off the tee and pinpoint iron play which is exactly the test we have this week. He actually has four top four finishes in his last seven starts worldwide so is clearly a man in form and he might be boosted by the fact he has been active in recent weeks and won’t need to shed any of the rust that a number of this field will have to do. Kim has experience around here which includes a T17 finish at the Q-School in 2019 so it won’t be unfamiliar to him. Winning breeds confidence and confidence breeds low scoring. I think the American is worthy of a main bet this week.
Outsiders
Daniel Gavins still kind of goes under the radar despite the fact he won in Northern Ireland last year. He won on a course not too dissimilar to this in that it was a fairly short par 70 where water was in play and accuracy was a key requirement. Although Gavins’ form hasn’t been overly brilliant this year his long game has been very good. Prior to a bit of a mare at the Qatar Masters last time out in his three previous events he ranked 1-6-3 for strokes gained from tee to green and 1-7-11 for strokes gained on approach. He holed absolutely nothing in those events yet still finished T6 in Kenya. Not as many players have experience of these greens so he might not be disadvantaged as he might have been on other courses with the short stick. He looks a solid punt to me.
Sebastian Soderberg is a player I like to back when courses are a little more exposed and his iron play can come into the game. In two of his last three recorded events he has been in the top 10 in strokes gained tee to green and in the top six on approach and he has won around here before coming out on top in the Nordic Golf League event that used to be stages here in 2018. He was fourth two years previous too so he knows this course very well. Soderberg was second in the Mallorca Open in similar conditions last year and T10 in South Africa earlier this season so he is going well and could be overpriced here.
I backed Lukas Nemecz prior to the break for The Masters and although he didn’t deliver the goods I’m not done with him just yet. Austrian golf is on the up as we’ve seen with Sepp Straka on the PGA Tour while the likes of Bernd Wiesberger and Matthias Schwab are making strides on this side of the pond and Nemecz can join them. He was third at the Ras al Khaimah Championship and at both the Kenya Open and the Steyn City Championship he was second in the field for strokes gained on approach. It has been his putter which has let him down but half the field won’t have seen these greens before so that might not be a disadvantage to him, especially as he is someone who has played here before. I’m happy to pay to see how he goes here.
Tips
Back A.Otaegui to win ISPS Handa Championship in Spain (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 34.00 with Betfair (1/5 1-7)
Back S.Kim to win ISPS Handa Championship in Spain (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 51.00 with Betfair (1/5 1-7)
Back them here:
Back D.Gavins to win ISPS Handa Championship in Spain (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 81.00 with Coral (1/5 1-7)
Back S.Soderberg to win ISPS Handa Championship in Spain (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 81.00 with Coral (1/5 1-7)
Back L.Nemecz to win ISPS Handa Championship in Spain (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 126.00 with Coral (1/5 1-7)
Back them here:
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Very unlucky Kev. had he been a little bit braver with the putter he may well have won. Good shout.