The European Tour is back on track and we’re all raring to go. The early season events were much as always, the circuit then made it’s way to European soil, and then it all sort of ground to a halt with the GolfSixes which were fine in and of themselves, but good fields, strong courses and a meaty run towards the Open is what we’re craving – and thankfully this week tees us off nicely.
The field is decent, the track is one the players (and fans) are familiar with, the promoters always have fun getting the players decked out in lederhosen and it’s only four weeks until the final major of the year.
For the second time this season Matt Wallace defends a title the week after a grueling major championship and on a different course to the one he won at last year because this week the tournament continues its trend and alternates from Cologne to Munich.
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The Course
Golfclub Munchen Eichenried first hosted the European Tour in 1989 and has seen plenty of changes down the years, but since the last time it hosted the event (2017), the greens have been renovated entirely. The tree-lined parkland course plays to a par of 72 at 7,235 yards and is a combination of holes from the venue’s three layouts. The closing stretch has the capacity to dramatically alter the fortunes of a round. The 16th is a risk-reward short par-4, a par-3 follows and then the par-5 last is a sharp dogleg left. Water short of the fairway is a factor, as is running out of short grass if getting the angle wrong. Back in 2009 Rafa Echenique made an albatross here to nearly pinch the win, others have made bogey to miss out on a place.
Columnist Matt Cooper appears on the European Tour’s official Race to Dubai podcast. To listen click here.
Past Winners, Scores & Stats
2017 Andres Romero -17 (DD: na, DA: na, GIR: na, Scr: na, PA: na, AA: na)
2015 Pablo Larrazabal -17 (DD: 52, DA: 22, GIR: 33, Scr: 5, PA: 27, AA: 21)
2013 Ernie Els -18 (DD: 22, DA: 51, GIR: 1, Scr: 18, PA: 50, AA: 12)
2011 Pablo Larrazabal -16 (DD: 39, DA: 2, GIR: 2, Scr: 25, PA: 35, AA: 3)
2010 David Horsey -18 (DD: 68, DA: 8, GIR: 42, Scr: 6, PA: 10, AA: 12)
2009 Nick Dougherty -22 (DD: 21, DA: 38, GIR: 20, Scr: 27, PA: 2, AA: 4)
Notes: The winner will need to go low, but the manner of how he makes those birdies is not signposted by the numbers.
The Weather
A bit dodgy: there’s a good chance of thunderstorms at some point on Friday and/or Saturday, with rain likely on all of the first three days and very little wind to blow it all away.
Quotes
Jamie Spence (commentator, second at the course – talking on the podcast, see link above): “You need to be able to shape the ball, but pushing it out there helps. The par-5s are where you can build a score.”
Henrik Stenson (2017): “It’s a low-scoring golf course. You’re going to make a lot of birdies. You don’t want to go out and make as many pars as possible, so not like a normal U.S. Open. Hopefully, we bring the birdie train with us this week.”
Martin Kaymer (2017): “I prefer golf courses where par means something. I think on this golf course, you need to shoot at least 4-under par every round to have a chance on Sunday.”
Stephan Jaeger (2015): “You can give yourself a lot of opportunities for birdie because the greens are fairly small, fairly receptive. They spin a lot. The par-5s are reachable in two, and I think a lot of guys are going to take advantage of that. But you have to hit the fairways.”
Leading Contenders
A first look at this course for the defending champion, but he was superb in claiming the title last year, thrashing a final lap 65 to fight back from T9 after 54 holes. Since missing the cut at the Masters and Heritage he has added second in the British Masters, third at the PGA Championship, a tired T41 in Denmark (also defending) and then T12 last week at Pebble Beach.
Four years on from his only previous course start and that should be plenty of time to have forgotten going 75-72 to miss the cut. Second in the Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, he didn’t make another top 20 in seven starts until adding T12 last week at Pebble alongside Wallace.
He was talking of his demons again last week at Pebble Beach, grumbling that his game was in the sort of state which made winning an impossibility. However, there is every reason to think that away from the major stage he can put in a decent performance (he started with a 69 last week before fulfilling his own prophecy). A six-time course visitor he has twice been seventh and twice been second including two years ago when only an outlier performance from Andres Romero beat him.
Ranked first for SG: Approach the Green last week at Pebble which, allied to third at the Memorial and eighth at the British Masters, hints at a return to form. A rum collection of results at this course however. He was a winner in 2008, fourth in 2013, but has five times failed to make the cut, including his last two visits. Second in this event last year.
A first play on the European Tour since the Desert Swing and maybe ranked by the bookmakers on past form at this level? Admittedly he was third at Bay Hill, but since then he has only once finish of better than T30 in strokeplay and that was T16 at the Heritage. His course form is solid but not outstanding: 5-for-7 with one top ten when third in 2010.
He’s been much as always on the European Tour this season, collecting five finishes of T12 or better, one of them in the WGC Mexico Championship. However, his last two starts were T64-T62 in the PGA Championship and Memorial Tournament. He has a fine record at the course, nabbing four finishes of T14 or better in six tries and hasn’t missed the cut since his debut (79-67).
Made his tournament debut last year and finished T51 at Gut Larchenhof. His form this season has been strong with T20 in Malaysia, T4 in India, T2 in Morocco and T19 in China. He’s only added a missed cut at the PGA Championship since.
A missed cut in the Made in Denmark is the only bump in the road in recent weeks. Before that he was T7 in Malaysia, T14 in Morocco, T5 in China and T6 in the British Masters. A winner of the European Open in Germany, he has one course visit, when T44 two years ago.
Started the season making cuts, but very little impression at the weekend. Since then he has added four top 20s but is perhaps still a little frustrated that his best effort is T9 in the Trophee Hassan II. He was T18 in this tournament last year and 12 months before that T2 in this event. He closed the former with a 65 and the latter with a 66.
Somewhat surprising that the Swede returns to Europe and is ranked only tenth by the bookmakers? Only four men are head of him in the world rankings, but the brutal fact is that his 2019 has been focused on the PGA Tour and he lacks one top 25 in strokeplay. He’s 3-for-4 on the course with a best of fourth when he last visited in 2013 (with an opening lap of 64).
