After another good week at the Dunhill Links Championship the European Tour heads south from Scotland to London this week for the British Masters, one of my favourite weeks of the year given the locality of the two events to me so far!
This is the second staging of the tournament since its return to the rota and each year a British golfing star has the honour of hosting it. This year that honour goes to Luke Donald and he has taken the event to The Grove in Watford. With Sky Sports’ backing this is a big event now and the quality of the field highlights that.
Recent Winners
2015 – Matt Fitzpatrick
The Course
Matt Fitzpatrick won around Woburn last year but the tournament has moved 60 or so miles away to The Grove, a course which last staged a professional event back in 2006 when it hosted the WGC American Express Championship, a tournament which Tiger Woods won no less.
This year the course is a par 71 which measures 7,121 yards so it isn’t particularly long but there are a couple of holes where having length is an advantage, not least the first hole where the longer hitters can drive the green whereas the shorter ones have to lay up around the dogleg. The course is very similar to Le Golf National, the Open de France host track.
The fairways are pretty wide around here but the real test comes with shots into the greens. The greens themselves are pretty large but they have slopes all over them and they are fast so it isn’t just about finding them but finding the right level on them. Almost all of the greens are elevated and if you miss them there are large run off areas which getting up and down from won’t be easy.
With all of that in mind I’m very much after greens in regulation machines and/or good scramblers and those who can hole putts. These greens are beasts and you won’t get close if you pick players who can’t putt.
The Field
Given the prize money on offer it is no surprise the field is strong this week but credit to those involved in the event that so many big names have been attracted to it. The biggest of them all is the Masters champion Danny Willett. He is one of five of Europe’s Ryder Cup players in the field.
Defending champion Matt Fitzpatrick defends a title for the first time while seasoned European Tour campaigners Graeme McDowell, Shane Lowry, Bradley Dredge and the host Luke Donald himself all tee it up as do recent European Tour event winners Alex Noren, Alex Levy and Tyrrell Hatton.
Market Leaders
Bernd Wiesberger is the favourite teeing off this week. He is 16/1 which highlights the competitive nature of this event. Wiesberger is in excellent form at the minute and if this course resembles the Paris one the fact the Austrian won there last year is very much a positive. The price is a touch on the skinny side though.
Alexander Noren is the second favourite at 18/1. I was all over him last week and if I’m honest I was counting my winnings after 18 holes but he failed to go on from there. He was eighth in Paris this year but last week puts me off even allowing for his excellent form.
Ross Fisher was only beaten by something of a clinic by Tyrrell Hatton last week but that continued the good form of the Londoner and he’ll be popular at 20/1 especially being from London and is likely to have played this course a few times down the years.
Tyrrell Hatton and Shane Lowry are both 22/1. The former won last week but that was his first win on Tour and the amber nectar might have flown a wee bit too much for him to contend here. Lowry should go well but he has shown little for a long while.
Danny Willett probably feels like he has a point to prove at 25/1 and ruling him out would be folly despite his struggles of the last few months. It is 28/1 bar those six.
Main Bets
I’m going with two main bets this week. The first is a man in red hot form who ticks plenty of boxes and that is Ross Fisher. The strength of Fisher’s game is his driving and attacking the greens. He sits 15th in greens in regulation on the European Tour and that is a big factor this week.
Fisher has finished second in his last two European Tour events and being local I’m expecting a big week from him. Fisher was holing plenty of putts last week and but for Hatton’s brilliance he would have won. He can make up for that by nailing the title this week.
Thongchai Jaidee was the winner in France earlier this year and an emphatic one at that. That extended a fine record there which sees his last five results in that tournament reading 15, 66, 2, 10 and 1. That in itself gets me interested here but there are a couple of other things.
Firstly it is the scrambling skills of the Thai. He has a wonderful short game and sits seventh in scrambling on the tour which is a massive thing here. He played in the WGC event here 10 years ago and made the top 10 which is a positive. His own home course is wide open and exposed like this one is and he comes in here off the back of two top 10s in Asia so he’s in decent form and well set for another massive showing.
Outsiders
I’m going to go in with three outsiders too in the hope of landing something like we did with Hatton last week. The first of those is Thomas Aiken, a man who I’ve got a feeling has a massive chance this week. The South African has only played four European Tour regular events this season but he is yet to finish outside the top 20 which immediately catches the eye.
Aiken was in the top five at Wentworth earlier in the season so we know he can do it in English conditions and stats wise he is sixth in greens in regulation this season and he’s in the top 20 in fairways hit too. He tends to putt better on faster greens so this track should be right up his street and at 66/1 I’m a player this week.
Alejandro Canizares has shown some good form in the last couple of months with three top 10s in the space of four tournaments. I’m going to ignore his last two events because the European Open turned into a bit of a farce and the Dunhill Links is a different style which doesn’t suit everyone. He has previous in Paris too which I like with him having finished second there in the past so there is plenty to like.
The Spaniard is 26th in scrambling on tour, second in putts per round and fifth in putts per GIR on the tour this season so his short game is there for all to see. I’m expecting him to attack these greens and with the ability he has around the greens he should contend again.
Finally I’m going with the other Thai I like and that is Kiradech Aphibarnrat. This one is more of a gut feel but he is so much better on courses where he has a little freedom off the tee and that is very much this one. He is a very good putter who isn’t the worst scrambler in the world so if he has some quality iron play with him this week I expect him to contend again having finished in the top five around Woburn 12 months ago when he shared the lead going into the final round.
Tips
Back R.Fisher to win British Masters (e/w) for a 1.5/10 stake at 21.00 with Betfair (1/4 1-5)
Back him here:
Back T.Jaidee to win British Masters (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 41.00 with Bet365 (1/4 1-5)
Back him here:
Back T.Aiken to win British Masters (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 67.00 with Skybet (1/4 1-6)
Back him here:
Back A.Canizares to win British Masters (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 81.00 with Ladbrokes (1/4 1-5)
Back him here:
Back K.Aphibarnrat to win British Masters (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 81.00 with Boylesports (1/4 1-5)
Back him here:
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