The Open de España is back on the European Tour International Schedule for the first time since 2016 this week, with no fewer than 25 Spaniards teeing it up at their home Open at the Centro Nacional de Golf – the home of Spanish golf – where ten years ago, Charl Schwartzel shot 16 under par to claim his second European Tour win.
Our stats guru has weighed up the numbers and picked the following three players who could be contenders for your Fantasy team this week.
Favourite: Jon Rahm
The highest ranked player in the field at number four in the Official World Golf Rankings, Spain’s Jon Rahm is back on home soil this week at the course where he honed his golf skills while combining his golf and studies at Centro Nacional for two years. Not only will Rahm know the layout of the 7,096 yard par 72 layout better than anyone else in the field, the 23 year old is also coming into this week off the back of another impressive display at last week’s Masters Tournament, where he finished fourth in just his second appearance at Augusta National.
Rahm, who won twice on the European Tour in 2017 to finish third in the Race to Dubai Rankings Presented by Rolex last year, will be keen to top the pile this time round, starting with a good week here in Madrid. His distance off the tee, which has seen him average over 307 yards so far this season, should come in useful this week on a course which is the shortest par 72 on the European Tour since the 2016 Fiji International.
Centro Nacional de Golf is also a course where you can be aggressive, which again, will suit Rahm, who is averaging five birdies a round so far this season on the European Tour. The home favourite will also find the smooth putting surfaces in Madrid to his liking, with the Spaniard ranking in the top 10 on Tour this season in all of the following key putting categories – putts per GIR, three putt avoidance and strokes gained putting.
Form Horse: Paul Dunne
Two top tens from his last two worldwide starts, Paul Dunne heads to Madrid in fine form. Despite making three of four cuts on the European Tour this year, the Irishman hasn’t found the sort of form that saw him hold off a charging Rory McIlroy to win his first European Tour event at the British Masters supported by Sky Sports, on the way to finishing 16th in last year’s Race to Dubai. This week’s course however, should present Dunne, who is regarded as a short game whizz, with the perfect opportunity to make his mark this season. Playing short off the tee, Dunne will be able to put his short game skills, which see him ranking in the top 30 in One Putts, Three Putt Avoidance and and Putts per Round, to good use.
Interestingly the 25 year old leads the European Tour in Par 3 scoring this season, with Dunne averaging 2.79 on the shorter holes, and is also in the top 15 when it comes to sand saves. Those are two categories which again should benefit the Dublin native here in Spain. The weather forecast for the week, which could see some rain and wind hitting the Spanish capital, should also suit Dunne, who has performed well in adverse weather conditions in the past.
Wildcard: Søren Kjeldsen
Another player who hasn’t been at his very best this season, Søren will see this week as an ideal opportunity to put that right, in what will be his 17th Open de España. During that run the Dane has posted some good finishes in this prestigious event, having finished second in 2012 and fourth two years ago. The 42 year old, who leads this week’s field in terms of performance at statistically similar courses over the last two seasons (min. 20 rounds), should like the look of the Centro Nacional de Golf, with it playing short and Kjeldsen averaging 284 yards from the tee. What the four-time European Tour winner lacks in length from the tee though, he makes up for in accuracy, finding nearly 70% of fairways so far this season.
Like Dunne, Kjeldsen plays well in windy, cold conditions. The Dane also has great memories of playing in Spain, with two of his four European Tour victories coming here.
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