After a thrilling week at the WGC-HSBC Champions, the European Tour heads to the Montgomerie Maxx Royal in Antalya for the sixth instalment of the Rolex Series at the Turkish Airlines Open.
Our stats guru has studied the form and has three suggestions for your Fantasy Golf teams.
Favourite – Justin Rose
Justin Rose enters the week as the strong favourite having won this event in 2017 and 2018. When you add to that a tied third finish in his only other appearance in Turkey, which came at this year’s venue in 2013, you can see why he by far the one to watch.
Among the 80 players in this event’s history with 12 or more rounds played, Rose’s scoring average of 66.75 is 1.56 strokes better than anyone else, with Ian Poulter ranking second, at 68.31.
The former World Number One’s strokes gained per round record at this event is remarkable too, with the Englishman, on average, picking up 3.3 strokes on the field.
Rose also has the best aggregate score to par at the Turkish Airlines Open at 55 under par over 216 holes. With such strong form in Turkey, you really must have the 11-time European Tour winner in your team this week.
Form horse – Matthias Schwab
You’ve probably seen Matthias Schwab’s name appear as our form horse quite a lot this season, but it is hard to look past a player who has been so consistent, picking up nine top ten finishes since the Honma Hong Kong Open back in November 2018.
Since the Omega European Masters, the Austrian ranks second in strokes gained per round – picking up, on average, 2.2 strokes against the rest of the field over 21 rounds.
Last week he made his World Golf Championships debut at the WGC-HSBC Champions and finished in a tie for fourth, while in his last Rolex Series start, at the Italian Open, he also finished in a tie for fourth place – proving he is also a player for the big occasions.
Wildcard – George Coetzee
George Coetzee’s recent form has gone somewhat under the radar, but the four-time European Tour winner heads to the Turkish Airlines Open in fine fettle. After a solo third place finish at the Amundi Open de France, and a share of 14th at the Portugal Masters, the South African then won on the Sunshine Tour at the Vodacom Origins Final.
The 33-year-old has enjoyed success in Turkey too, claiming fifth place at the 2016 staging of this event at Regnum Carya Golf, while his best placing at this year’s venue came in 2013 when he finished 12th.
Having recently re-discovered his Midas touch, we see no reason why Coetzee can’t develop his love for Turkey even more this week.
Those are our picks, did we do enough to convince you? Add them to your European Tour Daily Fantasy Game and your line-up in the Fantasy Race to Dubai before the action begins on Thursday.
