English Championship Tips 2020

The top of this week’s market is dominated by Thomas Detry and Lee Westwood, both of whom make little appeal at the prices on offer. Detry had yet another golden opportunity on Sunday, making bogey at the last when in a position to exert maximum pressure on Sam Horsfield who was also seeking his first title.

Westwood, on the other hand, returns to action after a week of rest and recuperation following hosting duties at the British Masters, where he ultimately finished last of the 70 players to make the halfway cut.

Rasmus Hojgaard makes the most appeal at 18/1 of the front runners if he can compete near the top of the leaderboard for a third straight week, whereas Sam Horsfield will surely have expended a whole load of mental and physical energy in getting over the line last week at Forest of Arden. Instead, I’m playing this week far more speculatively with a team of 5 longer each-way shouts, starting with the talented Frenchman Antoine Rozner.

I put the 27 year-old up a few weeks ago at Diamond Country Club where he duly flattered to deceive, carding two competitive rounds of 69 either side of a less so impressive 74 and 76. 60^th at the British Masters contained one ray of light, a 2^nd round 67, however it was his 10^th place finish last week which really caught the eye at Forest of Arden.

4^th heading into the weekend, Rozner gradually drifted down the leaderboard without collapsing completely, however there were good signs with the putter that another seriously contending performance may be just around the corner. The Frenchman nearly got his rookie season on the European Tour off to a flying start in December, showing some early signs at Leopard Creek where he sat in 7th position heading into the weekend before losing out in a 3-way play-off the following week in Mauritius, with Rasmus Hojgaard winning by virtue of making eagle at the 3rd extra hole.

The Parisian has progressed through the golfing ranks at a rate of knots since turning professional in 2016, winning back-to-back tournaments on the Challenge Tour in Spain and the Czech Republic last May to essentially rubber-stamp his European Tour card for this year. With his game seemingly on the ascendancy once again, taking a title such as this may be well within his grasp. RESULT: T26

Choosing not to stick with Sam Horsfield last week proved to be a mistake, however the truth of it is that I struggled to stomach the halving of his price having just seen him relinquish a contending position with a poor closing 9 holes the week before. Such is this game that these decisions readily come and bite you, however I haven’t quite given up on Matthew Southgate yet and once again I suspect the generous fairways here at Hanbury Manor will suit his game.

22^nd last week in Birmingham showed further progress from the 35^th place he finished the week before in Newcastle, and save for a 2^nd round of 74 he’d have been much closer at the finish and much shorter this week into the bargain. Fact is, he didn’t play badly at all last week, ranking 5^th for Driving Accuracy, 18^th for GIR and 8^th in the All Round category, and if a few more putts drop this week he could be very dangerous.

If the link between the winners at the K Club and here historically holds any water as per my preamble, then the 31 year-old’s 4^th place finish here in 2016 has to be considered as a positive for this week. The Southend man will feel increasing at home now that the Tour has moved further south and east, so much so that he could reasonably have stayed at home between rounds for this week’s event had in not been for the Tour’s Covid bubble. RESULT: 61st

Another player with form at the K Club who played nicely last week was Max Kieffer and he warrants backing here at a 3-figure price.

In lieu of any tangible course form, his 5^th place finish in Ireland back in 2016 is the clearest pointer I can give to his fit this week, ranking that week 8^th for Total Driving, 6^th for Total Putting and 7^th for All-Round. After opening with a 77 that week and staring a missed cut squarely in the face, the German produced three excellent rounds of 68/70/67 to produce his best finish of that season.

Career best finishes of 2^nd at the 2013 Spanish Open, 3^rd at the 2015 & 2018 Nordea Masters and 2^nd at the 2019 Oman Open have generally come on tracks that offer a little more width off the tee and the dimensions here should suit the German’s game.

6^th last week at Forest of Arden was Kieffer’s best finish for well over a year and 72.2% greens in regulation – 10^th in the field – his best ranking on that count since finishing 5^th at the Maybank Championship last March. 2 eagles and 16 birdies was his best par-breaking performance for over 2 years and he should be in confident mood as he heads east to Hanbury Manor this week. RESULT: MC

To the casual observer of golf, seeing the name Dale Whitnell on the leaderboard at Close House may have resulted in questions like ‘who?’ and assumptions that he’s a young, local lad who’s found his way into a strong position on the week.

The reality is a little bit different though for the Englishman who will celebrate his 32^nd birthday on Sunday, hopefully while contending for this title. Having turned professional in 2009 and finished 4^th at the Alfred Dunhill Championship on just his 3^rd start on Tour, the future looked bright for the former Walker Cup star.

The following years didn’t go to plan though for Whitnell, who ended up on the Portugal Pro Tour, essentially a mini tour a few rungs down the ladder. Victory at that level’s Tour Championship earned him 5 precious starts on the Challenge Tour in 2019, an opportunity he grasped with both hands by finishing 3^rd in Slovakia before winning the KPMG Trophy last September in a playoff over Laurie Canter.

27^th at Q-School meant he scraped a European Tour card for 2020, however the step up to the top level wasn’t what he hoped for with 5 missed cuts from 5 starts in 2020 prior to the Tour’s suspension. The return to action has been a different story though with that aforementioned 4^th place finish at Close House ranking as his best career effort at this level and despite finishing 51^st last week at Forest of Arden, he closed with a 67 which was amongst the best rounds on the day.

Hanbury Manor is a short 30-minute drive from Dale’s home in Colchester and whilst his friends and family sadly won’t by able to watch him play this week, he should nevertheless feel right at home around these parts. RESULT: MC

Finally I have no hesitation putting up Graeme Storm at what could prove to be a mad price.

Persistent wrist issues and subsequent surgeries meant a curtailed 2018 season and a completely blank 2019 in terms of competitive action, before his rehabilitation finally allowed him to play some golf at the start of this year. 4 missed cuts from 4 starts did little to encourage, however after the Covid-induced break he surprised himself and those around him with a 10^th place finish at Close House where, by his own admission, merely making the cut would have been a successful week.

Last week’s missed cut wasn’t unexpected in truth, however with a further week of fine-tuning, he could be ready for further progression on a short course that should suit his game. 2 wins on bentgrass-based greens at Le Golf National and Glendower GC in 2007 and 2017 bode well for this week’s task and layouts that offer a little more room from off the tee would also appear to play to the Hartlepool man’s strengths.

That most recent victory in South Africa was achieved in a play-off over Rory McIlroy, who won the 2016 Irish Open hosted at the K Club as previously mentioned. The 42 year-old missed the cut that week, however he does have previous in that part of County Kildare, finishing 2^nd there in the 2005 European Open behind Kenny Ferrie. RESULT: MC