The European Tour’s Final Series kicks off in Turkey this week. The final four tournaments of the year carry huge prize pool and Race to Dubai points as we battle it out to crown the European number one much like the way the PGA Tour reaches a climax.
The first stop on the series is the Turkish Airlines Open. This is the third year this event has existed with Victor Dubuisson and Brooks Koepka the first two champions. Koepka is now established on the PGA Tour so doesn’t defend the title but Rory McIlroy makes an appearance which makes up for the absence of the champion.
The Montgomerie Maxx Royal resort in Antalya in Turkey hosts the tournament for the third successive time this week. It is a strange course with five par 5s and five par 3s and just eight par 4s so those who can take care of the par 5s will prosper this week. Although they are all reachable the longer hitters might have the edge.
The greens on this par 72 track are huge and undulating so we’re very much looking for good putters. The track measures 7,133 yards in all and with the number of par 5s we’re looking at a low scoring week so we need players comfortable making lots of birdies.
McIlroy is the favourite this week. He is a 9/2 shot and if the world number three is on his game he should go really close here but it has to be said it has been a while since we’ve seen his best. Shane Lowry is the second favourite at 16/1 with Bernd Wiesberger 20/1. Andy Sullivan and Matthew Fitzpatrick are 22/1 and it is 25/1 bar.
We’re looking ideally for long hitters and good putters this week and three men immediately stand out in that regard. Chris Wood is in tip top form having posted top 10 finishes in his last three tournaments including in Portugal a couple of weeks ago on a course very similar in set up to this one.
Wood isn’t as long as some off the tee but he is such a pure ball striker that he has enough length to be competitive and on the greens he’s one of the best putters on the tour. Wood has the confidence of a win in the Lyoness Open to his name and he finished 15th here in 2013. He’s playing much better now and is probably a more rounded player now so he should go really close once again.
I took Thomas Pieters in Portugal a couple of weeks ago and had he not got tangled up in the wind and rain in the third round I’m convinced he would’ve challenged Andy Sullivan more than he was able to.
In theory he shouldn’t be inconvenienced by the weather this week so on a course which sets up perfectly for him I’m expecting big things from the Belgian who won a similar birdie fest in the Czech Masters not so long ago. Nobody in this field is longer than the Belgian Bomber and although he belts it a mile he has a wonderful touch on the greens and with that I’m expecting him to go very close indeed.
Another pure driver of a golf ball who has a wonderful putting touch is Kiradech Aphibarnrat and having watched him at close quarters in the final round at Woburn a few weeks ago I’m happy to take him here.
That day wasn’t the Thai’s best but he still showed how good a putter he was and with wider landing areas here and much bigger greens he should be much more suited to this track. We know he is in good form from both that Woburn run and his run in Macau the week after and at 50/1 he looks a very big price here.
Eduardo de la Riva might not be a big hitter but he is certainly keeping up with the big hitters recently. He was in the top 10 in the Czech Masters on a bombers track and even the Portugal Masters which should have been too long for him saw him post a top five.
In between those efforts the Spaniard posted a runner up finish in the KLM Open to further confirm he is striking the ball as well as ever and I think he is worth a go at a three figure price this week. He won’t compete with some in the length department but from 150 yards in he can match most and I’ll take a chance he is back in contention again.
Back C.Wood to win Turkish Airlines Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 26.00 with Bet365 (1/4 1-5)
Back T.Pieters to win Turkish Airlines Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 34.00 with Ladbrokes (1/4 1-5)
Back K.Aphibarnrat to win Turkish Airlines Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 51.00 with Stan James (1/4 1-5)
Back E.de la Riva to win Turkish Airlines Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 111.00 with Bet365 (1/4 1-5)
