After another dramatic Sunday at The 147th Open Championship, the European Tour heads to Hamburg for the Porsche European Open.
This year the tournament is celebrating 40 years since the first edition was held, with Green Eagle Golf Courses the ninth different venue to play host. Jordan Smith won here last year, beating 2016 winner Alex Levy in a two-man play-off. The Englishman returns this week and is joined by Paul Casey, Patrick Reed and Charl Schwartzel in the field.
Can Smith become just the third man to successfully defend the Porsche European Open title? Our stats guru has crunched the numbers and has selected the following three players for your Fantasy teams.
Favourite: Alex Levy
Some players just have a feel for certain events. That certainly seems to be the case with Alex Levy and the Porsche European Open. The five-time European Tour winner has finished in the top two twice in three appearances at the event, including his runner-up finish to Smith in last year’s edition. He finished the week 13 under par and could quite easily have had his sixth tour win after an excellent week on the greens, including an average of 26.8 putts after four days.
Although the Frenchman arrives a little out of form, he’s a dangerous man to write off. When he teed it up here last year, he hadn’t finished in the top 20 in his previous five events, proving he doesn’t need to be on a roll to work his magic. With a place in Thomas Bjørn’s European Ryder Cup team seeming a real possibility, that could be all the motivation he needs to turn it on again in this tournament.
Form horse: Patrick Reed
It’s certainly been a year Patrick Reed will never forget. A first Major Championship title at the Masters Tournament in April was followed by an impressive fourth placed finish in a testing week at the US Open. The American tees it up in Germany this week with memories of a T19 finish last year and at the end of a solid run in Europe that included a share of 23rd at the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open.
Reed recovered from a shaky start at last week’s Open Championship to finish in the top 30 and undoubtedly heads to Germany as one of the men to beat. His stroke average from the Masters onwards is a strong 69.4, including six sub-70 rounds in his last nine. If he comes out firing, expect him to be a strong contender for the title.
Wildcard: Connor Syme
It’s proving a summer to remember for young Scot Connor Syme. Playing in his rookie season on tour, the 23 year old finished second at the Shot Clock Masters in June and held the course record at Gullane GC for a few hours at the Scottish Open on his way to a T32 finish. That Friday 62 in Scotland really caught the eye and confirmed Syme can mix it with the big players.
His performance at the Shot Clock Masters also caught the eye, finishing as the best of the rest after Mikko Korhonen proved a runaway winner. It’s been a mixed year on tour for Syme, but there have been signs in the last couple of months that he could be set for a strong finish to the year. This week may prove to be the catalyst for greater things.
