Genworth Stats Pack - Preview Report

Bo Van Pelt arrives as the defending champion this week having won the inaugural ISPS HANDA Perth International during a superb run of form last year. During that memorable week, the 38 year old golfer from the United States came out on top from a battle with fellow American Jason Dufner, by excelling from tee to green (ranking 3rd for Driving Accuracy and 6th for Greens in Regulation) and scoring heavily on the Par 5 holes (with a superb 4.19 average). This time around however, Bo is lightly raced having competed just twice since withdrawing from the final Major in August (with a hip injury).

Brett Rumford finished 36th in this event last year, but he arrives in the form of his life having converted back to back European Tour wins earlier in the season, as well as producing three strong performances from his last four starts. Looking at his Genworth Statistics since the beginning of August, the 36 year old Australian golfer has played a tough schedule of events, which explains why he ranks lower than expected for the long game categories. His short game however is red hot as usual and his Par 3 Scoring is excellent (good Par 3 Scoring is an encouraging sign in a player’s game). Brett will take plenty of home crowd support with him this week.

Paul Casey led the Genworth Greens in Regulation Statistic on his way to finishing 5th in this event last year, but he arrives with pretty average form over the last month or so, making cuts but not really firing on all cylinders. We can see by looking at his Genworth Statistics since the beginning of August, that the 36 year old English golfer is driving the ball long and hitting a good number of the Par 5 greens in sub-regulation (two shots), but for a player of his standards nothing is jumping out as being outstanding. Remember that form is temporary while class is permanent though, and this twelve time European Tour winner can sprout wings and fly at any time.

Branden Grace arrives to compete in this event for the first time, in what must be said quite poor form by his very high standards (with a best finish of 59th since his duel with Phil Mickelson in Scotland back in July). Looking at his Genworth Statistics since the beginning of August, the 25 year old South African is showing a lot of red, but we must note that he has played a tough schedule of events over the period. Like Casey, Brandon has shown that he is not scared to win a golf tournament at any point, irrespective of his current form, so discount him at your peril.

Ross Fisher arrives to compete in this event for the first time, in superb form with three top ten finishes from his last four starts. Looking at his Genworth Statistics since the beginning of August, the 32 year old English golfer is performing extremely well from tee to green, ranking high in each of the long game categories. This consistency is enabling him to make plenty of birdies whilst dropping comparatively few shots, which is all leading to quality scoring on the Par 4’s and Par 5’s, and an overall Stroke Average ranking of 5th. With a good putting week, Ross may well notch up his fifth European Tour win at Lake Karrinyup.

Marcus Fraser arrives to compete in this event for the first time, in solid form with three top twenty finishes from his last four starts. The Genworth Driving Distance statistics identify the 35 year old Australian golfer as being an average length hitter of the ball (at tour level) so there is likely to be more of an emphasis on strategy and accuracy in his game, rather than bullying courses into submission. His main strength is a sublime short game and putting stroke (when he has his eye in on the greens he is incredible to watch). Much the same as Rumford and the other Australians, Marcus will take plenty of home support with him this week.

Søren Kjeldsen makes his first visit to the ISPS HANDA Perth International this week, having played in each of the last seven individual European Tour events (a very busy period of golf). Looking at his Genworth Statistics since the beginning of August, the 38 year old Danish golfer is scoring great on the Par 3’s and Par 4’s (driving the ball accurately, hitting plenty of Greens in Regulation, and scrambling well). Interestingly, Søren’s seems to be struggling a little on the Par 5 holes though, ranking quite low for Par 5 Scoring and Par 5’s in 2. He may benefit from looking at his strategy for those holes, to make sure he is playing to his strengths.

Justin Walters arrives to compete in this event for the first time having secured next season's playing rights in style with a second place finish in Portugal last week (he putted best of all the players with rankings of 1st or 2nd in each of the Official Putting categories). Looking at his Genworth Statistics since the beginning of August, the 32 year old South African can certainly drive the ball a long way and seems to be putting superbly from week to week. But overall he tends to move in and out of form in batches through the season, performing steadily for a series of weeks and then missing a few cuts in a row. At the moment, he is most definitely in a bout of good form.