The European Tour’s Race to Dubai returns to The Belfry this week for the first of nine events in the UK on the 2021 Race to Dubai - The Betfred British Masters hosted by Danny Willett.
Willett plays host to the tournament for this first time, which returns to the Brabazon Course for the first time in 13 years. But who will be crowned champion? Read on below to find out who our experts think.
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Expert Picks
Our expert picks will be brought to you every week by Sky Sports Presenter Kit Alexander and former Ladies European Tour player, coach and presenter Sophie Walker. The duo also co-host their own weekly Fantasy Golf Youtube Channel.
Kit's picks
You can follow Kit on social media here: @KitOnTheCourse (Twitter), @KitOnTheCourse (Instagram)
Bob MacIntyre
The popular Scot is back on the European Tour after an encouraging stint in America, including an excellent T12 in his Masters debut. He finished 3rd in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic before crossing the Atlantic, and he’s been installed as the bookies favourite this week. He has the game and the temperament to live up to that tag.
Martin Kaymer
The former world number one and two-time major champion finished 3rd in Austria in his last event – his seventh top-10 since the start of last year. He ranks 8th in ‘strokes gained - approach’ and he’s sacrificed a little distance to significantly improve his accuracy off the tee this year. That combination should yield plenty of scoring chances at The Belfry, where he was tied-3rd in last year’s ISPS Handa UK Championship.
Thorbjorn Olesen
The five-time European Tour winner has only played two tournaments this year, but he finished tied-5th in the Gran Canaria Open and tied-12th in the Tenerife Open. It’s only a small sample size, but he leads the Tour in scoring average and ‘strokes gained - putting’ from those eight rounds. His first child was born in early April, so this could be the start of a nappy factor-inspired improvement in form.
Sophie's picks
You can follow Sophie on social media here: @SophWalks (Twitter), @SophWalksGolf (Instagram)
Andy Sullivan
The local lad will have played The Belfry many times and watched the European Tour players in action as a child/fan. Playing in England was good for him, last year he was top 10 in all four of his home events. The highlight of the English swing was his record breaking score at Hanbury Manor (-27). Sullivan’s stats for 2021 are 7/7 cuts, 70% of Green in Regulation and straight as an arrow from the tee. It has been a slow start to the year but there is nothing like a home event to ignite your season.
Sam Horsfield
The most in form player on the European Tour, he has played 4 events since returning from shoulder surgery and not finished outside the top 15. Horsfield currently leads the tour stroke average with 67.38. He ranks 1st in putts per GIR and hits 70% of GIR. Sam dominates resort courses, he won both his European Tour titles around similar layouts in the UK last year.
Bernd Wiesberger
Bernd has been playing in the states and doing nicely. He shone at The Masters until an unfortunate final round of 78 to fall into T40. The Austrian has been reflecting on his game at home in Austria and stating that “he needs to change gear in order to shoot lower scores”. Weisberger’s ball striking is strong with 72.69% of greens hit this year and his seven wins on the European Tour highlighting his champion attitude.
The world number 56 finished 5th at The Belfry last year, his highest finish in 2020. A slightly disappointing year compared to his 2019 showing where he had three wins, two of those Rolex series events.
