The second Rolex Series event of the season gets under way this week with the Italian Open at Gardagolf Country Club.
Situated close to the idyllic Lake Garda in northern Italy, the course has hosted two previous Italian Opens in 1997 and 2003, when Bernhard Langer and Matthias Grönberg claimed their respective titles.
This week sees Tyrrell Hatton return to defend the title he won last October, along with fellow Rolex Series champions Alex Noren, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Tommy Fleetwood and last week’s BMW PGA Champion Francesco Molinari.
With 17 of the top 25 in the Race to Dubai Rankings present this week, it’s shaping up to be an exciting week. Our stats guru has crunched the numbers and selected the following three players to complement your Fantasy team.
Favourite: Ross Fisher
At last season’s Italian Open, Ross Fisher finished runner-up to Tyrrell Hatton for the second time in as many weeks to cap a fine run of form. Fisher, who had also come up just short at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship the week before, posted rounds of 68-66-67-63 at Golf Club Milano in pursuit of a sixth European Tour win. In his only other appearance in Italy, he finished seventh in 2014, which suggests this is a country the Englishman feels at home in.
Fisher arrives at Gardagolf CC this year in fine form too, following a share for eighth at Wentworth last week. However, despite having not played in the previous two tour events here, the 41 year old did finish fifth at the Challenge Tour’s 2005 Texbond Open, hosted here at Gardagolf. If good memories can give him any kind of advantage this week, a first win since 2014 could be on the cards.
Form horse: Alex Levy
As we approach the halfway point of the season, it’s safe to say it’s proving to be a year to remember already for Alex Levy. A strong record on tour this season, highlighted by four top seven finishes in eight appearances, has the California-born Frenchman positioned in 11th in the Race to Dubai Rankings. With so much to play for this season, including a potential spot on the European Ryder Cup team at Le Golf National, it’s no surprise to see one of the most charismatic men on tour performing.
Victory at the Trophée Hassan II in April was his third title on tour in as many years and followed top four finishes at the NBO Oman and the Omega Dubai Desert Classic. His consistency has been further demonstrated by the fact he is in the top 21 in par four scoring (21st), Greens in Regulation (20th) and Strokes Gained: Putting (18th). Levy is also 11th in Birdie Average this season, making him a solid pick for your team this week.
Wildcard: Lucas Bjerregaard
Not many players are as hot as Lucas Bjerregaard is right now. The Dane hasn’t finished outside the top six in his last three appearances, including a share of third at the BMW PGA Championship. A slow start to the season, which included four missed cuts in a row, has been well and truly forgotten and Bjerregaard looks a strong contender to perform well in Italy.
He also led the field in Greens in Regulation last week at Wentworth and a strong tee to green game will serve him well around Gardagolf this week. If he’s looking for good omens from previous appearances at the Italian Open, he’d do well to recall his third place finish in 2015, as well as a top 20 the following year.
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