After a thrilling final day of the Italian Open last week the European Tour heads to Germany this week for the Porsche European Open. This tournament drew the short straw this year in that it has the slot the week before the Ryder Cup starts. As such it isn’t the strongest renewal of the event.
That won’t matter to those who head to the tournament needing big finishes either in their quest to make it to Dubai or perhaps more importantly in their bid to retain their tour card. Although the big names might not be here we are sure of a competitive event.
Recent Winners
2015 – Thongchai Jaidee
2009 – Christian Cevaer
2008 – Ross Fisher
2007 – Colin Montgomerie
2006 – Stephen Dodd
The Course
Golf Resort Bad Griesbach is the venue for the tournament for the second year in a row. It is a par 71 which measures 7,188 yards with a 35-36 combination. Three of the four par fives measure between 514 and 578 yards so we can expect a pretty low scoring week once again.
The course was flooded in the lead up to the tournament which meant the practice rounds and the pro-am were cancelled. So this will be a unique event in that everybody will be playing the course for the first time in the week when they tee off in the first round. That could play into the hands of those who were here last year.
With sodden fairways you would expect the longer hitters to find the going much more to their liking. This is especially with balls unlikely to get much run which makes the fairways play even wider than usual.
The Field
Surprisingly two of Europe’s Ryder Cup team are in the field this week. The last thing they will want is a delayed finish which could be significant for how the tournament plays out. They are Thomas Pieters and Martin Kaymer.
The defending champion Thongchai Jaidee is also in the field this week. A number of seasoned professionals will be eyeing up another European Tour victory with Nicolas Colsaerts, Ross Fisher, Bernd Wiesberger and Alex Levy among them.
Market Leaders
Thomas Pieters is the favourite to win the tournament this week. But having pulled out of the event in Italy late on last week due to a nasty bee sting I’m not so sure I want to be piling in on him. The conditions could make this event hard to judge and he wkill be focused more on next week more than this one.
Martin Kaymer is an 11/1 shot to win what could effectively be dubbed his home tournament even though it is under the European guise. He has the same attention issues as Pieters and even if he didn’t it has been a good while since the German last won. I’m not sure I’d want to be taking him to win at that price.
Bernd Wiesberger missed out on a good chance to win the KLM Open a couple of weeks ago. He is back for more this week but he hasn’t played the course before. That has to be a negative when thinking about backing him at 16/1. His run in Holland shows he is in good form though which makes up for the lack of course knowledge.
Scott Hend and Alejandro Canizares are both 30/1 to land the title this week. Both men have had good finishes in recent weeks and head here with their confidence up. It is 33/1 bar that quintet.
Main Bets
Given the recent weather conditions and the way it has left the course there is an element of lottery about the week it must be said so I don’t want to pile in on anyone too short but I will take two main bets.
The first of those is on Scott Hend for whom the conditions will be a real benefit. He can afford to let the driver go a little more this week which is right up his street and we’ve seen in Switzerland and Holland that he’s in decent nick. He was a little off colour last week but I’ll forgive him that with all the waiting around the ensued.
Hend was fourth around here last year so he has course experience which could be vital and he arrives in excellent form. I think he’s a major player this week and 28/1 is a tasty enough price to get involved in.
With length likely to be a big thing this week I’m going to have a go at Nicolas Colsaerts who I remain convinced will be inspired by the likes of Thomas Pieters and Thomas Detry in recent times and with the Ryder Cup next week possibly invoking memories of the good times in his career I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Belgian deliver the goods this week.
We know his issues have been with the putter this season but if that inspiration frees him up to let the putter heat up then there is no reason he can’t be bang in the mix. At 50/1 he looks overpriced for a big run.
Outsiders
With the likelihood of this tournament opening right up I’m going to allow myself a go at three big priced outsiders this week at prices ranging from 100/1 to 300/1.
The first of those is Peter Uihlein. It is fair to say that form hasn’t treated the American well in recent times but he should enjoy the extra freedom that he may well get off the tee this week. He was fourth in Thailand earlier in the season on an open track and while this isn’t as open the soggy conditions will certainly widen the course. He was just outside the top 10 here last year and he has the potential to produce another big run here.
Pelle Edberg went even better around here last year. He was third 12 months ago and is another to have gone well in that event in Thailand earlier in the year and it might just be that there are similarities between the two courses which would certainly benefit his chances of going well again here. Course experience really could be a big thing this week and that extra freedom from the tee gives the Swede the chance of going well. I’ve taken him before this season and I’ll take him again here.
My final pick is on a home hope who might not be a forlorn hope this week. That is Marcel Siem. Admittedly catching the German on the right week is never easy these days but his better form tends to come on the open and more exposed tracks so that gives an ounce of confidence that he might outperform his huge odds this week. We’ve seen home winners of the last two tournaments and at 300/1 I’ll pay to see if that trend continues with Siem here.
Tips
Back S.Hend to win Porsche European Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 29.00 with Skybet (1/4 1-5)
Back him here:
Back N.Colsaerts to win Porsche European Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 51.00 with Paddy Power (1/5 1-7)
Back P.Edberg to win Porsche European Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 151.00 with Paddy Power (1/5 1-7)
Back them here:
Back P.Uihlein to win Porsche European Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 101.00 with Ladbrokes (1/4 1-5)
Back him here:
Back M.Siem to win Porsche European Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 301.00 with Betfred (1/4 1-5)
Back him here:
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