The European Tour stays on these shores this week, but moves south from the links courses of Scotland to the tree-lined majesty of Walton Heath in Surrey and the British Masters.
This historic course used to be a staple of the European Tour – it hosted the 1981 Ryder Cup – but hasn’t been used for a tournament since 1991. Which means there’s a generation of Tour players who hardly know the course.
Last week we dismissed the chances of the Ryder Cup players in Scotland on the grounds of fatigue. That proved somewhat misguided as Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood and Brooks Koepka all played very well. However, it was Denmark’s Lucas Bjerregaard who took home the trophy.
And with this all in mind, our first selection for this week’s tournament is fellow Dane Thorbjorn Olesen. Another Ryder Cup player, Olesen has had a week’s rest after his stunning singles victory over Jordan Spieth and will be buoyed by his compatriot’s win last week. Additionally, he has good memories around this course as it was used for qualification for the US Open in the summer.
Our second selection is something of a punt, but we’ve been keeping our eyes on this young player. Tom Lewis burst onto the scene as an amateur when he briefly led the Open Championship in 2011. Some fallow professional years followed, but he came back into focus by winning the Portugal Masters in September. The young Englishman finished 10th last week in Scotland and also successfully qualified for the US Open on this course in June. Let’s take a chance.
Recommendations:
Olesen to win, 1 pt, at 25/1, widely available
Lewis 0.5 pts each way at 50/1, 1/5 the odds for the first seven places, SkyBet
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