European Tour

Porsche European Open, Hamburg Germany

With no events on the PGA tour, some of the Worlds top players are heading to Germany, including Patrick Reed, Xander Schauffele and Matt Kuchar. Defending champion is Richard McEvoy who won by one shot last year from Christofer Blomstrand and Renato Paratore. The field lacks strength in depth and offers the opportunity for someone who is in form to grab a decent prize and the rewards that a win brings. I am going to leave this week alone as there are many imponderables and there will be better opportunities on both tours, in the coming weeks.

The players to keep an eye on this week may include Matthias Schwab, Lucas Bjerregaard, Romain Wattel, Thomas Pieters and Lucas Herbert. I will not be getting involved, but on current form it is difficult to see Schwab at 25/1 not being involved at the weekend, whilst a player with course form, Wattel, is massive at 200/1, as he finished fifth last year. Schauffele is a fascinating contender and on recent form will be very hard to beat but of the front three in the betting, I would rather side with Patrick Reed although he is hardly great value at 8/1.

Next week we have the KLM Open from Amsterdam on the European tour with the new season starting on the PGA tour in America at The Greenbrier in west Virginia, where Kevin Na will defend his title.