European Open 2022 - Green Eagle GC, Hamburg, Germany

 Unfortunately I've run out of any spare time for a proper post for this week's events and a reflection piece on the past two weeks where I am all too aware of the extraordinary luck that has come my way, first with JT somehow winning the PGA Championship and then quite unbelievably Victor Perez denying Ryan Fox in The Netherlands. We take the profit and move on and wait for the inevitable correction to occur down the line!

 Pretty much the same approach for this week in Germany as it was last week and that said I was tempted to go back in again on Victor Perez @ 40s but I've settled on 3 selections as per below, with a strong view on the Spaniard to go very well

Selections

1 pt e/w N. Hojgaard @ 50/1 - 7 places
2.5 pts e/w A. Arnaus @ 30/1 - 5 places
1 pt e/w Y. Paul @ 66/1 - 8 places

Charles Schwab Challenge 2022 - Colonial GC, Fort Worth, Texas

 Just two selections for the Charles Schwab Challenge this week where it seems Jordan Spieth has to simply turn up !!

I found this one tough to eek out any value but finalized on just two selections and in the process leaving out Burns, Fleetwood, Rose & Riley based on their prices.

I do like the bit of value on Max Homa & Abraham Ancer to put in a good week here @33/1 - 8 places for both.

Homa has 8 TOP-20s including 2 wins on tour this season and appears to be getting more comfortable challenging as each week goes by whilst Ancer played nicely last week at Southern Hills and if not too jaded could improve on his returns of just 2 T-10s from his 15 starts, the latest being in Tulsa and Colonial should help him do that following back to back 14th place finishes here the past two years.

Selections

1 pt e/w M. Homa @ 33/1 - 8 places
1 pt e/w A. Ancer @ 33/1 - 8 places

Dutch Open 2022 - Bernardus Golf Club, Netherlands

It will be tough to follow the PGA Championship this week but the DP Tour will offer us a birdie-fest in The Netherlands, whilst the PGA Tour will offer a similar test at Colonial GC as to what as was experienced at Southern Hills although not as intensive. How much drain there will be on the travelling players from Tulsa to Tilburg remains to be seen but we do have 7 players making that trip of which 6 make up the head of the betting market where they are priced between 18 - 40/1. Fair enough, they are the better players but only 3 of them played all 4 rounds last week where Bernd Wiesberger fared the best, placing 30th. Thomas Pieters will probably be at his home for the week and make the 90 minute commute to Bernardus GC each day and he cannot be dismissed lightly @ 22/1. However, he may have his eyes on bigger upcoming tournaments and may not approach this week with too much ambition. I'm happy to swerve him here given I have 4 players from my shortlist that I think are quite decent value

Marcus Armitage is simmering of late and he could be motivated to play well this week ahead of his defence of The European Open next week in Germany. From his 10 starts this season the Englishman has posted 5 TOP-20s of which 2 were TOP-10s and I like his price, 66/1 - 7 places especially as Marcus ranks high in the SG:APR AND  SG:T2G (7th & 16th). Bernardus GC lends itself to strong approach play and forgiveness off the tee, so if he brings a putting week here he is a solid chance for me. It is his putting that drags him back but he should be in a good frame of mind for the next couple of weeks.

I had Edoardo Molinari towards the top of my shortlist with a tissue price 55-60/1. The best price 45/1 is a no-no for me unfortunately and so I'll turn my attention back to Victor Perez @ 50/1 - 7 places. One TOP-10 from his 6 starts this season came 4 starts ago at the Handa Championship and his last couple of events yielded results of 33-21 so he's not too far off of producing a good week. He's certainly underachieving a little to date but has the game for this level and given the market leaders could be tired or demotivated following exploits at the PGA Championship, this could be an ideal week to strike

JC Ritchie is added to the staking plan based on price @ 75/1 - 8 places as well as Ashun Wu @ 80/1 - 8 places. Both players have solid SG:APR & SG:T2G stats to back their chances for this course with the latter ranking high for putting as well. I made them both 55 - 67/1 chances so some value for me in those prices on offer. The Chinese player won the Kenya Open earlier this year whilst the South African has been in fantastic form on the co-sanctioned Sunshine/Challenge Tour winning twice in his homeland before grabbing a T-10 at The Belfry three weeks ago. As always I feel, the transfer from the South African tour to other tours doesn't always go well but given solid form the past 6 months he is worth a dabble.

Selections

1.50 pts e/w M. Armitage @ 66/1 - 7 places
1.00 pts e/w V.Perez @ 50/1 - 7 places
1.00 pts e/w JC Ritchie @ 75/1 - 8 places
1.00 pts e/w A. Wu @ 80/1 - 8 places

PGA Championship 2022 - Southern Hills, Tulsa Oklahoma

 The PGA Championship looks set to be a cracker this week where there are so many in with a great chance of winning which in turn suggests we probably won't see a triple priced winner at a course that looks set to play tough. Southern Hills GC is the venue this week and the course looks like one that a strong T2G game is required.

It's an event I'm looking forward to viewing more than speculating on and in a selfish way I'm delighted that reigning champion, Phil Mickelson is missing so we can avoid the unnecessary interviews with him, about him and the bloody LIV. Tiger is here though so whilst he does bring a different aspect in terms of how will he fare, I'm hoping TV coverage provides us with a fair share of footage and not Tiger constantly.

I think Rory McIlroy can break the losing Major streak this week...He's been simmering for a while and if he does get a solid opening front-9 under his belt on Thursday and is within touch after that opening 18 I think he's going to go very close, I also think JT will have a solid week and he should take confidence from his 8th place finish at Augusta to bring into Major week and kick on in the Majors and add to his solitary Major, winning the Wanamaker Trophy back in 2017. They're my two at the top of the marker to be onside with but there's no denying that Jon Rahm's game is ideal for Southern Hills nor do I dismiss the chances of Slam-chasing Jordan Spieth, Patrick Cantlay, Morikawa and Scheffler.

Down the market I do like Daniel Berger at the price (50/1 - 10 places) as well as Cameron Young @60/1 - 10 places (but would take less without these number of places- not so sure 60s is value but I'm happy to take here) and I did take a couple of looks at Justin Rose @100/1 - 10 places given he has solid PGA Championship form and course design related form before deciding against inclusion.  JR has let me down at Augusta a few times although he prevailed for me at Merion but I'm not so confident he can do it this week. JJ Spaun was considered as too were Sepp Straka & Tyrrell Hatton (but we can't back him in a tense Major can we?)

Selections

3 pts WIN J. Thomas @ 18/1
2 pts e/w R. McIlroy @ 16/1 - 9 places
1 pt e/w D. Berger @ 50/1 - 10 places 
1 pt e/w C. Young @ 60/1 - 10 places

Soudal Open & Byron Nelson Championship 2022 - Rinkven International, Antwerp & TPC Craig Ranch, Dallas

Soudal Open 

Thomas Pieters heads the home challenge in Belgium this week at the Rinkven International GC in Antwerp. Born, raised and living in Antwerp, Pieters is surprisingly 2nd in the betting market this week behind Bernd Wiesberger. One week out from the years 2nd Major, the PGA Championship, it's always tough to decide if players are "warming up" ahead of the Major or whether there will be a determined effort to grab a win and I'm fully convinced given the status of a fledgling DP Tour, players will make every effort every week to do as well as they can, afterall next stop can only be the PGA Tour or the LIV association. At 16/1 - 8 places (7 places general and will settle to 7 for the blog's P&L)I'm onboard. A settled Thomas Pieters playing at home can only be a positive and think there's plenty of value in the price against the field here. Along with the Austrian he is well ahead of the field in terms of class and quality.

Adrian Meronk  is certainly in fine fettle of late having posted 4 TOP10s from his 8 starts which have included 3 TOP-5s. A missed cut last week can be ignored but a TOP-3 in Girona means he can tee it up here in confidence where a strong game is required to go low @ 22/1 - 7 places

Very tempted to get back onside with Victor Perez but he's obviously been backed in already this week(down to 33s) so I'll pass and go back to Ewen Ferguson who had a mare at The Belfry last week. 80/1 is fair enough, I wouldn't have taken lower, so he's added to recapture the form shown before the "once-off" in the MIdlands last week. At the same price I'm having a stab at Lucas Nemecz given his form to date is consistent (yes he also missed the cut last week) but 3 TOP-20s from his 11 starts is encouraging and his strong ranking in the T2G stats may prove to beneficial at Rinken.

Selections

2.0 pts e/w T. Pieters @ 16/1 - 7 places
1.5 pts e/w A. Meronk @ 22/1 - 7 places
1.0 pts e/w E. Ferguson @ 80/1 - 7 places
1.0 pts e/w L. Nemecz @ 80/1 - 7 places

Byron Nelson Championship

As mentioned in the Soudal Open preview above, the DP Tour is slipping more and more into oblivion I feel, as the quality of fields are diminishing each week, so my focus is undoubtedly switching to a more vibrant PGA Tour where so many new young players are coming to the fore. My initial preference was always for the Europeantour but the overall product in Europe from on course attendees (no spectators) and poor fields complemented by very poor Sky TV commentary makes the tour more unattractive each week and it's becoming increasingly frustrating to stay engaged.

Onto Dallas so, and the birdie-fest that awaits us here as TPC Craig Ranch ranks in the TOP-5 easiest courses on the tour. We have only one edition to refer to for course form so my approach this week is to see who is in current form, who likes low scoring tourneys and who is value to take on the market leaders that may very well be treating the next fews days as a warm-up for Southern Hills next week.

I'll opt once again for Sahith Theegala @ 100/1 - 8 places given he has been in form this season. Indeed his 3 TOP-10s this season have been at low scoring events so he's up for a birdie fest it seems. TOP25 last time out in Mexico, Sahith can continue a good season here this week at a decent price.

I don't normally rush out to back Marc Leishman but did so earlier this year to no avail and yet he was high up on my shortlist for this. Alas, he's been backed solidly it seems already this week and the 60/1 has evaporated and is now best price, 50/1 - 7 places. (60s with B365 with just 5 places). It could be tempting but feel I'm missing out on the value if I do, so instead I'll chance Luke List again here @ 90/1 - 8 places. List is in good form and ranking 4th on tour for SG:T2G and high in SG:APR, he can and should go much better than his 61st placing twelve months ago.

JJ Spaun @ 100/1 - 8 places also appeals. Winner 3 starts ago just 5 hours down the road from here in San Antonio, the Californian may not add a second title so soon having won his first but in his 150th PGA Tour start he can hit the frame here. He did win the event before The Masters - can he do it again ?

Selections

1.0 pt e/w S. Theegala @ 100/1 - 8 places

1.0 pt e/w L. List @ 90/1 - 8 places

1.0 pt e/w JJ. Spaun @ 100/1 - 8 places

British Masters & Wells Fargo Championship 2022 - The Belfry & TPC Potomac

 Very disappointing in Catalunya when Wiesberger finished 8th when taking 7 places and Fox finishing 9th when taking 8 places ! More disappointed with Ryan Fox's lacklustre final round when he did look comfortable on the course all week. 

I like The Belfry and having walked the course back in 2002 whilst waiting on a flight from Birmingham when I was lucky enough to follow Padraig Harrington on the back 9 that afternoon, have always considered accurate tee-to green players for an event at this course. Recent form is carrying over in recent events and I'm looking to catch one of them here.

The Wells Fargo Championship is being hosted by TPC Potomac , Maryland this week as Quail Hollow is being prepared for the Presidents Cup later this year. Rory defends having won this title 3 times previously at Quail Hollow and maybe the man to beat here too. I'll back four players to go up against him and include Max again whilst odds continue to be as high as they are and stick with last week's selections, Anirban Lahiri & Patrick Reed and include Cameron Young also who is sure to go in soon and his game was on point at Riviera so whilst Avenal Farms should play difficult this week, Young has shown he has the temperament to contend.

Selections

British Masters

1.25 pts e/w Lee Westwood @ 33/1  - 7 places
1 pt e/w Victor perez @ 50/1 - 7 places
0.5 pts e/w Ewen Ferguson @ 125/1 - 7 places

Wells Fargo Championship

1.5 pts e/w Patrick Reed @ 40/1 - 8 places

1.5 pts e/w Cameron Young @ 35/1 - 8 places

1 pt e/w Anirban Lahiri @  66/1 - 8 places

0.5 pts e/w Max McGreevy @ 500/1 - 8 places