After some low-key events in the tail end of summer, the European Tour gets a little fizz back this week.
The KLM Open in the Netherlands has been part of the European Tour schedule since 1972 and this year’s field has been given some extra gloss by the addition of Martin Kaymer and eight-time major winner Tom Watson.
Watson will certainly enjoy the history as this event was actually first staged in 1912. A quick inspection of the trophy shows four American names carved on it – the late Payne Stewart (1991), Scott Hoch (1995), Bob Byman (1977 and 1978) and Frank Dyer in 1931.
Kennemer G&CC will play host for the seventh time in 10 years so gamers have plenty of recent course form to wade through.
This is the second counting event for the 2016 Ryder Cup so it’s a good chance for some of the European Hazeltine hopefuls – including local man Joost Luiten – to get some early points on the board.
Last year’s tournament created worldwide headlines when, rather than a fancy car, Andy Sullivan won a trip to space for his hole-in-one in the final round.
Sullivan, who is scared of flying, has yet to take the offer up!
The course
Designed by the legendary Harry Colt along with Frank Pennink and SJ Van Hengel, Kennemer Country Club is an exposed seaside course with the rugged terrain typical of links layouts. Undulating but with no water hazards, it measures a very short-looking 6,626 yards with a par of 70. There are three par 5s but also five par 3s. Wind is usually a factor and that adds another layer of protection as the winning score never gets out of hand (between -12 and -16 since 2006) . The event has actually been played at this venue 22 times since 1920.
Last 10 KLM winners, winning score and stats
2014 Paul Casey -14 (DD 3rd, DA 52nd, GIR 1st, Scr 36th, PA 51st)
2013 Joost Luiten -12 (DD 37th, DA 13th, GIR 47th, Scr 6th, PA 13th)
2012 Peter Hanson -14 (at Hilversumche)
2011 Simon Dyson -12 (at Hilversumche)
2010 Martin Kaymer -14 (Hilversumsche)
2009 Simon Dyson -15 (DD 12th, DA 4th, GIR 35th, Scr 1st, PA 21st)
2008 Darren Clarke -16 (DD 27th, DA 12th, GIR 3rd, Scr 7th, PA 8th)
2007 Ross Fisher -12 (DD 1st, DA 44th, GIR 8th, Scr 11th, PA 29th)
2006 Simon Dyson -14 (DD 16th, DA 37th, GIR 30th, Scr 2nd, PA 46th)
2005 Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano -11 (Hilversumsche)
Notes: Casey topped the GIR stats when he took victory but Simon Dyson used superb scrambling as the basis for his wins in 2006 and 2009. Thanks mainly to the latter, there have been five English winners of the event in the last nine years. Also, all of the last nine champions were from northern European countries.
Weather
The forecast suggests pleasant, sunny conditions and temperatures around 70 degrees for the first two days. Showers are possible on the weekend as the clouds arrive. As expected, winds will be prevalent and are set to blow at 15-20mph (add more for gusts) over the first three days before settling a little in the final round.
The Leading Contenders
Martin Kaymer
Kaymer may feel a little warmer than usual about being back in Europe having lost his 2015/16 PGA Tour card after not playing in the required minimum of 15 events. He won this tournament in 2010 after following two 67s with a pair of weekend 66s although that was Hilversumsche. He’s only played at Kennemer once, posting T55 back in 2008 after failing to build on a second-round 66. The German has been in strong form over the summer with four top 15s in his last five events (two of those in majors) so the double major winner looks the justified favorite for victory.
Joost Luiten
Luiten became the first Dutch winner of his home event in a decade when edging out Miguel Angel Jimenez in a playoff at Kennemer in 2013. He was in red-hot form at the time having posted a win (Lyoness Open), a T2 and a T4 earlier in the summer. It’s a different case this time as he hasn’t played since a missed cut in the PGA Championship nearly a month ago and hasn’t shot in the 60s since a T4 at July’s Scottish Open. He did miss four of his first five cuts in this event but has a win and two other top 6s in the last four tries so is far better at coping with the added pressure. Luiten was also runner-up at Kennemer in 2007.
Eddie Pepperell
As well as being a must-follow on Twitter, the Englishman is also worth supporting this week. He closed with twin 66s on the weekend at Kennemer last year to finish fourth and clearly enjoys links golf having carded top big finishes at both the Irish Open (T2) and Scottish Open (T4) earlier this year. Pepperell was T22 at the Czech Masters on his latest start.
Jamie Donaldson
The Welshman has been sidelined with a sore back since pulling out of the PGA Championship so enthusiasm over his chances is slightly dimmed. This will be his first start at Kennemer since 2009 but he did post T5 on that occasion and was also T20 in 2008. He last teed it up in this tournament in 2012 when T21 at Hilversumsche so he generally does well on his trips to the Netherlands.
Matt Fitzpatrick
After some early-season wobbles, Fitzpatrick has shown his class on the European Tour this season with a second place in the European Masters and a third in the Czech Masters in his last four starts. The rookie has risen to 37th on the Race To Dubai and should be in the world’s top 100 sooner rather than later. He did miss the cut here last year but, in theory, this links test should suit him.
Soren Kjeldsen
One of the quiet stars of 2015 following a win on the famed links of Royal County Down in the Irish Open and two second places. The latter came in his home tournament in Denmark so some of that impressive form is fresh. At Kennemer he’s finished T8 in 2013 and T14 in 2006 so he offers plenty of appeal for gamers at this venue.
Tommy Fleetwood
After missing three cuts in a row (two of them majors), Fleetwood gets the engine started again and will be hoping he can find the form that has helped him to 21st on the Race To Dubai. This is his fourth start in the KLM Open and, so far, he’s finished T17, T30 and T28 (the latter two at Kennemer) so clearly enjoys the rugged links terrain. He’s 10th in greens in regulation this season which bodes well at this venue so it just needs the putter to heat up for the Englishman to get in the mix.
Tyrrell Hatton
The young Englishman has five top 25s in his last six starts, including a third place in the European Masters. The most impressive is arguably the T25 he posted in the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits given that it was his first time he’d ever teed it up in a major on American soil. Adding to his appeal is a T11 on his KLM debut at this course last year when he finished off with a 65.
Andy Sullivan
Sullivan has become a familiar figure on the European Tour this season having won twice but he raised his profile in dramatic fashion here last year when winning a trip to space (worth $100,000) after scoring a hole-in-one at 15. That was the obvious and dramatic highlight but of more concern to us is that it helped him finish in third place on his first start at Kennemer. He’s missed his last two cuts on American soil but did open with a 65 at the Quicken Loans.
David Horsey
While others have put their feet up, Horsey has been helping himself to some big finishes over the last couple of months. He went wire-to-wire to win in Denmark and followed that up by making a bold defense of his Russian Open title last week, holing a bomb on the final hole to finish solo third. After a modest season he’s jumped into the top 50 on the Race To Dubai. This has been a good event for him with three top 10s in his last five visits. True, the first two came at Hilversumsche but he did post T9 at Kennemer two years ago.
Kristoffer Broberg
On course form, Broberg deserves a swerve as he’s missed the cut on his only two appearances at Kennemer. However, he happens to be one of Europe’s in-form players after reeling off top 10s in each of his last three starts (T8 European Masters, T2 Made In Denmark, T8 Czech Masters). Managers should probably pay more attention to the latter as rounds of 72-70-72-69 at Kennemer are hardly disastrous even though they weren’t enough to get him into the weekend in both 2013 and 2014.
The Next Rung
Chris Wood
Links lover Wood tees it up at the KLM Open for the eighth straight year so clearly enjoys this tournament. Admittedly, his results aren’t anything to shout from the rooftops with a T11 at Hilversumsche in 2010 his best. He’s just 2-for-4 at Kennemer although did manage T22 last time. Since winning the Lyoness Open in June he’s missed three cuts out of four so he’ll hope a break since the PGA Championship will have freshened him up.
James Morrison
He’s 20th on the Race To Dubai this season and all set to smash his previous best of 57th in 2011. Morrison’s highs include a win in May’s Open de Espana and a solo second at the Open de France while a T20 in the Open Championship was another real step forward. He’s 3-for-5 in this event and last year at Kennemer shot 67-65 in his middle two rounds to post T28.
Gregory Bourdy
After a disappointing run, Bourdy bounced back with T8 at the Czech Masters two weeks ago and is back in the top 60 in the Race To Dubai. T8 was also the position he occupied at Kennemer in 2008 and again at Hilvesumsche in 2012. Overall, he’s 6-for-7 in this event with four top 25s.
Richie Ramsay
The Scot has an excellent KLM record. He’s made six cuts out of six and five of those were T26 or better. The highlight was a second place at Hilversumsche in 2012 while, at Kennemer, he closed with a 64 when T22 in 2013 and had two 65s (second with a round to go) when T9 last year. A winner in Morocco earlier this year, his last strokeplay start on European soil resulted in a T10 at the European Masters.
Maximilian Kieffer
His remarkable run of cut-making continued in Russia last week when he made it 20 out of 20 this season with a T11, highlighted by a Sunday 66. He’ll be an automatic pick for most managers in the 10-pick European Tour game format and a T22 at Kennemer in this event last year adds another layer of confidence. The only remaining question is can he finally get the first win that his consistent play deserves?
Bradley Dredge
While others packed up their clubs for the low-key late-summer stretch of European Tour events, Dredge hit the road and posted T6 in Denmark, T40 at the Czech Masters and T11 at the Russian Open where he was the halfway leader. He has three top 25s in this event, including a best of T7 at Kennemer in 2009 and a T12 on his last start in the event at Hilversumsche in 2012.
Ross Fisher
Fisher has to be given plenty of respect this week as he won the 2007 KLM Open at Kennemer and was also T3 at this week’s venue in 2013. He’s also been T6 and T11 at Hilversumsche so it’s a tournament that’s given him lots of success. The Englishman has missed cuts at the PGA and European Masters in his last two starts but did show his liking for the links when T7 in July’s Scottish Open at Gullane.
Peter Uihlein
He’s a risky play given his in-and-out form this season but a case can definitely be made for the American. He had his best Driving Accuracy stats in months (60.7%) when T17 in the Czech Masters a fortnight ago and that helped give him his best strokeplay finish since April’s T8 in the China Open. The other big plus is his T22 on debut at Kennemer last year when he opened 66-68-67 to sit T4 with 18 to play.
Rafa Cabrera-Bello
The Spaniard hit a rich vein of form across May, June and July, producing figures of 4-13-2-11-5 and topping lots of leaderboards over the first three rounds. He’s cooled off since and, to be honest, this doesn’t look an obvious venue for RCB to find his feet again as he’s not managed better than T46 in three visits and two of those were missed cuts.
Anthony Wall
Wall has missed his last two cuts at Kennemer but a T8 there in 2008 shows it’s not a puzzle he can’t crack. The veteran is 53rd on the Race To Dubai after a consistent season that shows no sign of falling away. In his last two strokeplay events, Wall has posted T12 at the Open Championship and T17 in the Czech Masters.
David Howell
Given his strong links record (latest evidence: third at the Paul Lawrie Match Play in Aberdeen last month), Howell’s KLM Open results are rather disappointing with nothing better than a T18 on debut back in 2004. A T26 at Kennemer in 2008 is his only top 40 at this week’s course in four starts.
Who’s On The Team
Sometimes it’s a stretch to find 10 players to fill the available slots on the European Tour fantasy game but this week there are plenty of contenders.
Beyond the obvious two of Martin Kaymer and Joost Luiten, Eddie Pepperell and Richie Ramsay make plenty of appeal.
They’re both available at around 40/1 so bettors will be encouraged to get involved at those prices.
One To Fade
Rafa Cabrera-Bello has a surprisingly poor record in this event and could be rusty after playing just once (MC) since the Open Championship.
2015 Fantasy Race to Dubai
Dave Tindall is our newest contributor, but he’s been a fixture in Europe. In addition to his weekly previews of European Tour events on Mondays, he’ll share his selections and analysis for the Fantasy Race to Dubai at EuropeanTour.com.
Format:
Pick 10 golfers. Players accumulate points based on Race to Dubai (R2D) points earned. Star player’s points are doubled. Unlimited team changes and unlimited star player changes are available each week.
Last week
Small purses = lack of movement but thanks to Lee Slattery (winner), David Horsey (3rd) and star player Michael Hoey (T4) in Russia, we moved up 122 spots. Current position: 1,295.
Team Tindall (Team name: YESSIR!)
Joost Luiten
Eddie Pepperell
Matt Fitzpatrick
Soren Kjeldsen
Tyrrell Hatton
David Horsey
Richie Ramsay
Maximillian Kieffer
James Morrison
Star Player: Martin Kaymer
The class act of the field at Kennemer is a former winner of this event and his form has been strong over the summer.
The Rest
- Joost Luiten: Local man has a win (2013), a 2nd and a 5th at this week’s course. Easy and obvious pick.
- Eddie Pepperell: 4th here last year and very strong on links courses this year. T22 in Czech last time.
- Matt Fitzpatrick: Two recent top three finishes trump his missed cut at Kennemer last year.
- Soren Kjeldsen: T8 at Kennemer in 2013. Runner-up in Denmark last time and winner in Ireland in May.
- Tyrrell Hatton: Five top 25s in last six starts, including 3rd in Switzerland. T11 here last year on debut.
- David Horsey: Form horsey more like. Has a win and a third in last three weeks. T9 at Kennemer in 2013.
- Richie Ramsay: In title hunt when T9 last year and also shot 64 when T22 in 2013. 41st on Race To Dubai.
- Maximilian Kieffer: 20 cuts out of 20 after T11 in Russian Open. Top 25 at Kennemer last year
- James Morrison: Middle rounds of 67-65 when T28 last year. Enjoying best season with win and 2nd.
