The DP World Tour season continues this week at the Andalucia Masters, which takes place at Real Club de Golf Sotogrande in Andalucia, Spain, for the first time having moved from its traditional Valderrama home.
What | Andalucia Masters |
Where | Real Club de Golf Sotogrande, Andalucia, Spain |
When | Thursday 19th October - Sunday 22nd October |
How to watch | Sky Sports Golf |
Odds | Wyndham Clark 10/1, Ryan Fox 10/1, Adrian Meronk 20/1, Jordan Smith 22/1, Alexander Bjork 25/1 |
There are four events remaining of the 2023 DP World Tour season so things are starting to get serious, both for those who are hoping to keep hold of their cards and for those who are striving to climb the standings on the season-long Race to Dubai.
Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm sit first and second in the R2D thanks to their exploits in Major championships and co-sanctioned events but that stellar duo are absent, paving the way for third-ranked Ryan Fox to contend for favouritism in the Andalucia Masters.
The big-hitting New Zealander, third in the Irish Open, a winner of Wentworth's BMW PGA Championship and a Dunhill Links runner-up in three of his last four starts, is in white-hot form and it's no surprise to see him sitting atop the betting at 10/1.
What is a surprise is that he's joined at the head of the market by US Open champion and Ryder Cup player Wyndham Clark, who is one of the class acts in the field but is an unlikely entrant having never played a regulation DP World Tour event.
Clark, who won the Wells Fargo Championship in May before going on to US Open success at Los Angeles Country Club, sits alongside Fox at 10/1 following a respectable Ryder Cup debut in which he won one and a half points from three matches.
Defending champion Adrian Otaegui ran away with this title at Valderrama last season and he's 33/1 to repeat the feat at the new venue.
Real Club Valderrama, one of the toughest tracks in the sport, had almost-mythical status on the DP World Tour as the first Ryder Cup venue from continental Europe but that course lost the right to stage this event when signing a five-year deal with the LIV Golf League.
The DP World Tour has instead turned to Real Club de Golf Sotogrande, which has hosted the European Tour Q-School Finals on five occasions.
Unlike tree-lined Valderrama, this is a wide-open track with generous fairways and an almost Floridian feel, but it does share some traits with its famous predecessor as it features small greens which put a premium on accurate approach play.
Ryan Fox
Punters have been coming for Ryan Fox since the Andalucia Masters market opened and it seems only fair that the in-form Kiwi is the man to beat at Sotogrande following his remarkable recent run of results.
Fox missed the cut in this tournament last season but the tight confines of Valderrama are less suitable for a man who relishes the opportunity to open his shoulders and attack with the driver, which has long been one of the most dangerous clubs in his bag.
The 36-year-old Aucklander, riding high at 28th in the Official World Golf Ranking, has had a week off since finishing second to Matt Fitzpatrick at the Dunhill Links,
He sparkled with his iron-play when taking the title at Wentworth and a similar performance could see him double up for the season in Spain.
Nathan Kimsey
After some solid DP World Tour performances, Nathan Kimsey came agonisingly close to claiming a PGA Tour card when he finished second at the Barbasol Championship in July, losing out to Vincent Norrman in a play-off.
However, the Englishman has continued to display promise back in Europe, finishing third in the Spanish Open on Sunday, and that Madrid performance hinted that a maiden title might not be far away.
Kimsey - 35/1 in the outright betting - was also 28th at Wentworth, striking his irons beautifully, before finishing 14th in the French Open, so another bold bid looks likely in Andalucia.
Thorbjorn Olesen
At his best, Thorbjorn Olesen is capable of competing in elite fields and the Dane, who was a member of Europe's 2018 Ryder Cup squad, can build on a solid showing at the Spanish Open by winning the Andalucia Masters title.
Olesen won the Thailand Classic in February, and while recent results haven't been quite as impressive, he was 11th at the Czech Masters in August then 10th in France and 17th in Madrid last week.
He remains a solid all-round performer but his approach play is his best asset, as he showed when winning the British Masters at the Belfry last season, and he is priced at 15/2 for a top-five finish.
This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.
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