The DP World Tour remains in Spain this week for the Andalucia Masters, a tournament which carries plenty of prestige and history, often because it was held at Valderrama but it heads to a new venue this time around.
Adrian Otaegui delighted the home crowd by winning this tournament last year and he is back to attempt to make a successful defence of his crown on a different track to the one he won on. A fairly good field opposes him.
Recent Winners
2022 – Adrian Otaegui
2021 – Matthew Fitzpatrick
2020 – John Catlin
2019 – Christiaan Bezuidenhout
2018 – Sergio Garcia
2017 – Sergio Garcia
The Course
We head off to the Real Club de Golf Sotogrande for the tournament this week. This course has hosted the Open de Espana in the past but the track underwent a huge overhaul and only reopened in 2016. It is a par 72 which measures 7,099 yards so it certainly isn’t very long and with the fairways said to be very wide here this feels like it is going to be very much a second shot and in sort of test for the players on show this week.
The greens are said to be quite fast and on the large side so accurate iron shots are going to be key, particularly as the surfaces are protected by a number of bunkers which could cause issues if the ball makes its way into them. As you would expect with a Spanish track a short game is going to be required to get the job done around here. You would imagine this will be a low scoring event but the lack of course knowledge might keep scoring a bit higher initially.
The Field
There are two players in the top 50 in the world rankings teeing it up this week with the highest ranked of them being the US Open champion Wyndham Clark who will be playing for the first time since he was part of the losing Ryder Cup team. The other player in the elite bracket is the BMW PGA Championship winner Ryan Fox who could do a bit of damage in the Race to Dubai rankings if he can add this title to his collection.
There are a whole bunch of other top 100 players in the world teeing it up this week. They include the Ryder Cup winner Robert MacIntyre, Adrian Meronk, Matt Kuchar and the home man Pablo Larrazabal. Victor Perez could be suited by the test this week while Jordan Smith will be looking to get into the winning habit again. Alexander Bjork, Rasmus Hojgaard, Thorbjorn Olesen, Thriston Lawrence and the defending champion Adrian Otaegui round off the top 100 players here.
Market Leaders
The US Open champion Wyndham Clark is a fair way ahead of the field in the world rankings and he is the 10/1 favourite to put that into practice and win the tournament at the first attempt. He would usually have had a major disadvantage if this was still at Valderrama but the fact that it isn’t means that him being on debut isn’t the issue it could have been. His form has been a little quiet of late but anyone who wins the Wells Fargo and a major in the same year needs to be respected.
Ryan Fox is pretty clear as the second highest in the world rankings this week and he is a point bigger than Clark at 11/1. While you could question the immediate recent form of the American, the same can’t be said of Fox a month on from him landing the flagship event of the DP World Tour. Fox is a danger whenever he has freedom off the tee and he has that here. I think the field is just a little more competitive to be backing an 11/1 poke.
Adrian Meronk has already won a tournament this season as well and he will tee off in Spain as a 20/1 shot to add the Andalucia Masters to his Italian Open crown. Meronk is another who is probably at his best when he gets a little freedom off the tee but the one thing which might track him down a grade or two is his touch around the greens can sometimes leave him. He hasn’t really convinced since missing out on the Ryder Cup and he isn’t for me.
Jordan Smith and Alexander Bjork are next in the market at 25/1. Smith is a tee to green monster but I don’t think he’ll have the same edge in the long game department given that there is little to no test off the tee around here. He doesn’t putt well enough to make up for that either in my eyes. Bjork is much more of an exciting proposition given his touch around the greens but he is probably no more than a fair price in a competitive field.
Main Bets
Fair price or not I do like Alexander Bjork this week. He leads the DP World Tour for strokes gained on approach this season and that feels like it is going to be the key statistic this week. Bjork was second at the European Masters a couple of weeks ago on a track where the second shot is the test. That was a little tighter off the tee too so the freedom he will get with the driver should only help him here. Bjork has eight top 10s on the season so he is as competitive as they come and eventually the win will land. It could well be this week.
Thorbjorn Olesen is always a player I like when the iron shot is the key test and with that being the case this week the Dane feels like a bit of a natural choice here. Olesen comes into the tournament off the back of successive top 20 finishes in the last two tournaments he has played to the end and won in Thailand with a -24 score earlier in the season so we know he can score well. If there is a weakness in the Dane it comes in the form of the driver but that shouldn’t be a concern this week. I think he is in for a big tilt at the title.
Outsiders
Eddie Pepperell sits fifth in the statistic of strokes gained on approach this season and that is massive for this week. We all know that pretty much the only club Pepperell struggles with in his bag is the driver and with the fairways being wide around here that plays right into his hands. Pepperell has shown signs of a return to form over the last few months and would have been better in the Open de Espana last week had he not stalled in the final round. That isn’t usually a problem he has so I’m happy to give him that. I think he is in for a big week at a decent price.
I’ll also pay and take a chance on a return to form of Pablo Larrazabal. A top 20 at the Open de Espana last week was a welcome return to something like we know he can play and the one thing we know about the Spaniard is it is with the irons that he shines generally. You only have to go back six months and Larrazabal was winning in successive regular DP World Tour starts in Korea and on an exposed track in Holland. Larrazabal won’t lack for crowd support and I’m sure somewhere along the line he will have played this track at times. He could be a big price this week.
Tips
Back A.Bjork to win Andalucia Masters (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 26.00 with William Hill (1/5 1-6)
Back E.Pepperell to win Andalucia Masters (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 81.00 with William Hill (1/5 1-6)
Back them here:
Back T.Olesen to win Andalucia Masters (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 36.00 with Betway (1/5 1-7)
Back P.Larrazabal to win Andalucia Masters (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 81.00 with Betway (1/5 1-7)
