Soudal Open 2023 - Rinkven International GC, Antwerp

 Frustrating weekend in Italy last week when Yannik Paul went into reverse when the course setup changed to suit the bombers. He may very go well here this week but with a putting performance on display the opening two rounds that I saw, he won't be on my stable at the odds available this week.

My Shortlist	BET365 Odds	Best Odds	Best Exchange	My Odds
Thorbjorn Olesen	21	21	23	19
Jorge Campillo	21	19	19.6	26
Alexander Bjork	17	17	21	29
Adrian Otaegui	17	17	21	26
Ewen Ferguson	41	41	49	46
Oliver Bekker	61	76	108	61
Fabrizio Zanotti	51	51	64	61
Maximilian Kieffer	31	34	43	56
Masahiro Kawamura	61	67	64	67
Daniel van Tonder	61	67	68	67
Jeung Hun Wang	81	81	96	67
Aaron Cockerill	41	46	59	67
Alejandro Del Rey	126	126	176	101
Sean Crocker	126	151	196	151
Alejandro Canizares	125	151	182	101
JC Ritchie	101	111	167	126

Just the selections from my 15-man shortlist and it would have been more but prices have been slashed since Monday on a couple of them, especially Max Kieffer who I was quite keen on but seriously, 33/1 ?? Adrian Otaegui I can understand as he won the Knockout tournament here and was solid last year too in finishing 15th but I can't justify 16s now. Ferguson has dipped in form of late but I do think he is the sort of player that can simply show up any given week and Rinkven will be suitable (lowly 58th last year though) and @ 40s though he too needs to be passed up. It's not an overly strong field (Detry & Bjork vying for market leader!) so I'm hoping Thorbjorn Olesen's run last week has shaken off the rust as he failed to post a t-20 for the first time this season and he's worth taking @ 20/1 - 8 places

I'll side once again with Jeung Hun Wang this week at the price 70/1 - 8 places and I'll be interested to see how 40yr old Alejandro Canizares goes given he's been in fine form this year posting 3 T-20s from his 6 starts, a best finish 4th at The Australian Open whilst his compatriot, Alejandro Del Rey is still to find the consistency that his game definitely has to convert to results but @ 90/1 - 8 places thought was worth another interest.

Selections

2.5 pt e/w T. Olesen @ 20/1 - 8 places
1 pt e/w J.H. Wang @ 70/1 - 8 places
1 pt e/w A. Canizares @ 125/1  - 8 places
1 pt e/w A. Del Rey @ 90/1

Italian Open 2023 - Marco Simone GC - Rome, Italy

 Very frustrating week in Korea where Jannik Paul looked to be in pole position (he was) after 36 holes before a poor "moving day" Saturday saw him move out of contention yet somehow came back into it briefly on Sunday before capitulating again. Still, the course proved to be a winner and he can take positives away from the first two days performance.

Onto a rescheduled Italian Open this week (from Sept to May) as the Ryder Cup will be hosted by this week's Marco Simone GC outside Rome in September. It means we don't have the strong field that we had here ~8 months ago as the elevated event at Quail Hollow understandably is a bigger incentive for the European leading players this week on the PGA Tour.

It's a short week with Monday gone a Public Holiday that centres around family time so this post is a bit later but the work has been done and a 15-man shortlist was finalized as per below, ending with the subsequent staking plan. Emphasis was put on SG:APR & SG:T2G and I'm very keen to see how Thorbjorn Olesen goes this week whilst Ockie Strydom appears to be the value of the week having won two DPT titles already this year! Yannik Paul gets another chance and I'm revisiting Jason Scrivener and Richard Mansell who should find the course to their liking.

My Shortlist	BET365 Odds	Best Odds	Best Exchange	My Odds
Nicolai Hojgaard	17	19	18.7	19
Robert MacIntyre	21	21	24	19
Adrian Meronk	19	21	22	15
Victor Perez	23	21	26	26
Thorbjorn Olesen	31	29	34	26
Yannik Paul	34	36	38	34
Joost Luiten	34	36	42	41
Jorge Campillo	34	36	40	41
Marcus Helligkilde	36	36	40	46
Adrian Otaegui	46	46	64	56
Richard Mansell	41	46	53	41
Romain Langasque	51	56	63	51
Marcel Siem	81	101	108	151
Jason Scrivener	91	101	137	201
Ockie Strydom	176	176	230	101

Selections

2 pts e/w T. Olesen @ 30/1 - 8 places

2 pts e/w Y. Paul @ 30/1  - 8 places

1.5 pts e/w R. Mansell @ 40/1 - 8 places

0.75 pts e/w J. Scrivener @110/1 - 8 places

0.50 pts e/w O. Strydom @ 175/1 - 8 places

Korea Championship 2023 - Jack Nicklaus GC, Korea

 We found a winner last week when Lucas Herbert duly obliged via a play-off over a very unlucky Aaron Cockerill. What's more lucky is that it is now 5/5 in my last 5 playoffs which goes against the all-time success rate of playoffs (9/23 overall) and this current streak comes on the back of 8 straight losing playoffs ! I did say Ibaraki holds fond memories for me having visited during the World Cup in 2022 and so it proved again last Sunday.

Onto a new event this week in Incheon,Korea not too far from Seoul. It's a Jack Nicklaus design course as it was last week and maybe Lucas Herbert is missing a trick here as he has form on the European/DPT tour winning on Jack Nicklaus design courses but nonetheless I'm sure he's having a few tinnies this week and planning ahead. I settled on just a 10-man shortlist (below) this week and I'm not sure whether that's a good sign or a bad sign ! Anyhow, I'm keen to side with Jeunghun Wang yet again especially as this is a home game for him this week. He was very slow out of the blocks last week but with a decent start this week, he can challenge for another DPT Title. Jeunghun ranks inside the T-40 for both SG:T2G & SG:APR which could be good indicators for this. I also like the 70/1 - 8 places with Bet365.

I wanted to get onboard with Guido Migliozzi again this week but on closer look at his stats I veered away and instead went for Ryo Hisatune @ 75/1 - 8 places. Hes missed the cut in his last two outings which is a slight concern and is probably factored into his price but he's posted 3no. T-10s from his 9 starts this year on the DPT of which 2 were T-5s! He could and should feel comfortable in this field and being in Asia again for another week. Should (!)

Lastly and by no means least, I have gone towards the top of the market as I find it hard to avoid Adrian Meronk in this field and Yannik Paul is a player that I think could be winning events more often soon. The Polish lad has Nicklaus form just like Herbert when he won the Irish Open at Mt Juliet last summer, has won the Australian Open back in January and posted 3 other T-10s form just 6 starts on the DPT in 2023. 18/1 - 8 places? Yes please. The German arrives in hot form; 6th last week and 2nd in both India & Thailand before that. He sits just outside the top-100 on the OWGR rankings so he should be motivated to capitalize on his current form to improve on that and this course looks ideal. He ranks inside the TOP-10 on the DPT for SG;T2G & SG:APR and if he putts well he could push Meronk for the 1-2 here @ 200/1 with Ladbrokes 

I was close to including Mansell and Langasque here but finalized on just the four.

My Shortlist	BET365 Odds	Best Odds	Best Exchange	My Odds
Robert MacIntyre		19	19.6	19
Adrian Meronk	19	21	22	19
Yannik Paul		23	28	26
Antoine Rozner	26	26	28	29
Richard Mansell	31	34	36	34
Jazz Janewattananond	34	41	48	41
Romain Langasque	51	56	68	51
Fabrizio Zanotti	61	67	86	81
JeungHun Wang		67	108	61
Ryo Hisatsune	67	81	111	67

Selections:

1.75 pts e/w A. Meronk @ 18/1 - 8 places
1.5 pts e/w Y. Paul @ 22/1 - 8 places
1 pt e/w J. Wang @ 70/1 - 8 places
1 pt e/w R. Hisatsune @ 75/1 - 8 places

*updated 26/04/23 @ 13:33 - 

0.20 pts Dual Forecast A.Meronk & Y. Paul @ 200/1

ISPS Handa Championship 2023 - PGM Ishioka GC, Omitama, Japan

 A new venue this week for the first ever proper co-sanctioned DPT/Japan tour, where the Jack Nicklaus course  just outside Ibaraki hosts. I have fond memories of Ibaraki, or just about (!) as this is where the Republic of Ireland claimed a memorable 1-1 draw with Germany at the 2002 World Cup with Robbie Keane's dramatic late equalizer.

So I'm hoping for another result here that could re-enact the celebrations that followed that night back in June, 2002 in Ibaraki and I'm going to post with the stable below having finalized a 20-man shortlist based on price only below

My Shortlist	BET365 Odds	Best Odds	Best Exchange	My Odds
Christiaan Bezuidenhout	19	21	22	15
Robert MacIntyre	26	29*(5places)	30	17
Lucas Herbert	21	21	23	19
Taiga Semikawa	36	41	46	36
Adri Arnaus	46	51	49	34
Jazz Janewattananond	61	61	69	41
Romain Langasque	67	67	74	56
Pablo Larrazabal	71	71	118	61
Rafael Cabrera Bello	101	101	127	61
Paul Waring	111	111	167	81
Jeunghun Wang	81	101	110	81
Ryo Ishikawa	126	151	216	81
Brad Kennedy	151	151	245	111
Chase Hanna	176	176	225	126
Shaun Norris	226	201	245	151
Daniel Hillier	151	176	274	151
Jens Dantorp	201	201	265	176
Todd Baek	226	251	480	201
Kodai Ichihara	601	501	686	351
Sang Hee Lee	601	501	441	401

Selections

1.5 pts e/w C. Bezuidenhout @ 20/1 - 7 places
1.5 pts e/w L. Herbert @ 20/1 - 8 places
1 pt e/w T. Semikawa @ 40/1 - 7 places
2 pts e/w A. Arnaus @ 45/1 - 8 places
1 pt e/w J. Wang @ 100/1 - 7 places