Two weeks after the European Open returned to the European Tour schedule another historic event returns this week as the British Masters is played for the first time since 2008.
The tournament has been reintroduced thanks to four world class English golfers looking to give something back to the domestic game and it has the support of Sky Sports ensuring a huge prize fund and with it a decent field.
Ian Poulter, Justin Rose, Lee Westwood and Luke Donald have committed to hosting this prestigious event, an event which all the big names have won down the years from Seve Ballesteros to Colin Montgomerie, from Tony Jacklin to Nick Faldo and plenty more in between.
Poulter is the inaugural host of the event’s return and he stages the event at the wonderful Woburn Golf and Country Club. The picturesque Marquess Course will be the one the star names perform on this week. The course is a par 72 which plays to a yardage of 7214 yards so it isn’t a long course but it is quite a taxing one.
Accuracy off the tee is of huge importance this week with the course being heavily treelined and only solid shots into the greens will find the greens. While the greens aren’t the trickiest here you need to put a good roll on the ball so we’re after a straight hitter who can hole putts this week for sure.
With a £3,000,000 prize fund and no American event it is no surprise some of Europe’s stars have come out to play this week. Lee Westwood and Luke Donald are in the field as is the recent WGC Bridgestone winner Shane Lowry. Jamie Donaldson, Graeme McDowell and Stephen Gallacher are other members of Europe’s successful Ryder Cup side who tee it up here.
Lowry’s WGC win is by far the best piece of form in the field this week and with that he is a worthy 16/1 favourite but this is a top class field so I’m not sure backing anyone at 16/1 is the right way to go especially as motivation could be an issue for Lowry after that big win.
Danny Willett is a second favourite to win the title this week at 20/1 ahead of the host Ian Poulter, Jamie Donaldson and Francesco Molinari who are all 22/1. Graeme McDowell is a well backed 25/1 shot and it is 30/1 bar.
I remember walking the fairways back in 2002 when this tournament was last held here when Justin Rose, Ian Poulter and Phillip Price were in the final group vying for the title so I’m excited this tournament is back on this golf course.
This is Poulter’s home course so we should expect him to go well this week but he is playing the role of the host so he will have to entertain various sponsors and dignitaries which will take some of his practice and rest and recuperation time away from him so while he has the course knowledge he might come up short with the demands on his time.
Many people liken the course to Wentworth and I can see where they are coming from in regards to the treelined nature of the course and the green contours but Wentworth in May is a slightly different animal to Woburn in October so it will remain to be seen how strong that form link is. I’m taking players with form on tough courses.
One man who I like this week especially on a course such as this is Matthew Fitzpatrick. I remain convinced this kid is going to be a superstar in the game and once the dam breaks in terms of his first win plenty more will follow. He has knocked on the door in the Omega Masters, Lyoness Open, Czech Masters and the Open D’Italia where in was in the top three on each occasion.
Very few in the game drive the ball as well and as straight as Fitzpatrick so that is a huge positive but unlike some straight hitters the Englishman can hole putts too. It is only a matter of time before Fitzpatrick wins and with this course set up so well for him I’ll take a chance the elusive win comes this week.
James Morrison has already won on a tough golf course where solid driving was required this season when he landed the Open d’Espana title back in the spring. He followed that up with solid weeks at Wentworth, in Germany and in the Open de France where he chased Wiesberger home to finish second in a tournament the Austrian showed no signs of losing.
His form dipped with the majors but it has come back the last couple of weeks where he has finished in the top 15 in both tournaments and with the confidence increasing again this solid driver of the ball has all the tools needed to go close to another big title this week.
Fabrizio Zanotti is enjoying some good form at the minute and I’m backing that to continue here. He is another player who rarely leaves the fairway and has top five finishes on tricky tracks in the KLM Open and the Open d’Italia in recent times.
Zanotti seems to go better the tougher the course is as he has good finishes in France and in the KLM Open as well as four top 25s at Wentworth. His putter let him down in the final round in Italy recently but those greens were horrible after four days of golfers walking over drenched surfaces. These won’t be so bad so I expect the Paraguayan to be right in the mix.
Very few on the European Tour are as straight off the tee or into the greens as Thomas Aiken. The South African can struggle on the greens at times but having been to Sawgrass last week and played well I think he can go well here.
He was at Sawgrass looking to secure a PGA Tour card which he managed to get fair playing rights for next season thanks to a good finish last week. If he has that form with him this week then his solid tee to green game, shown over a few years on tough courses, can push him right into contention this week.
Finally at a bigger price I will take a chance on another straight hitter in Wade Ormsby. Ormsby’s tee to green stats stand up to most scrutiny and if he can hole a few putts he has every chance of outperforming his price.
Ormsby has a decent record on some of the tougher tracks this year like Morocco, the KLM Open and in Spain and if this tough track inspires him this week then he’s shown with rounds like an opening 61 at the KLM Open that he has the scoring potential to contend.
Back M.Fitzpatrick to win British Masters (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 34.00 with Paddy Power (1/4 1-6)
Back J.Morrison to win British Masters (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 51.00 with BetVictor (1/4 1-5)
Back F.Zanotti to win British Masters (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 67.00 with Sportingbet (1/4 1-6)
Back T.Aiken to win British Masters (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 71.00 with Skybet (1/4 1-6)
Back W.Ormsby to win British Masters (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 201.00 with Ladbrokes (1/4 1-5)
Top work. I’ll take a 33/1 winner and a 66/1 place any day of the week. That’ll pay for the month.