Home hero Jon Rahm is the headline act this week as the DP World Tour returns to Spain for the acciona Open de España presented by Madrid.
Fellow Spaniard and defending champion Rafa Cabrera Bello is back to see if he can lift the trophy again and is joined by Ryder Cup star Tommy Fleetwood and a host of players looking for a big finish to the 2022 season.
If you have not done so already, you can sign up now to the official Fantasy game of the DP World Tour and submit your six-man team before round one on Thursday: https://fantasy.dpworldtour.com.
Favourite - Jon Rahm
The World Number Six is not only the highest ranked player in the field this week but he boasts an excellent record in his home open. He won on his debut at this event at Centro Nacional de Golf in 2018 and had no trouble adapting to the switch to Club Campo Villa de Madrid, defending the title a year later. Since those wins he has been World Number One, won a Major Championship and become a key cog in Europe's Ryder Cup machine but his passion for his national open still burns bright as ever. A winner this season at the PGA TOUR's Mexico Open and with a recent second at the BMW PGA Championship, it is no surprise Rahm is seen by many as the man to beat.
Form horse - Oliver Wilson
If confidence guaranteed wins, Wilson would be unbeatable right now. The Englishman spoke recently in the Player Blog presented by Enterprise Rent-A-Car of how he felt good in his game and the results are now starting to back it up. After starting the season with middling finishes and narrowly missed cuts, he has missed just two Sundays since July. That run of results has included a first win in nearly eight years at the Made in Himmerland and an impressive top 25 in the Rolex Series at the BMW PGA Championship. He missed the final round by one shot in Scotland last time out but has shown this year that he will not be knocked off course by narrow misses.
Wild card - Ross McGowan
The Englishman enjoyed his maiden victory in the Spanish capital in 2009 as he played his way to the brink of the 2010 Ryder Cup team but it is fair to say it has not been plain sailing since then. He spent time on the European Challenge Tour before producing one of the stories of the Covid-affected 2020 season as he won the Italian Open but he then made just two of his next 19 cuts. He has the ability to go very low, as a 61 here at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid last season proves, and after a recent tie for fourth with a 62 thrown in at the Made in Himmerland, he will be high in confidence.
