DS Automobiles Italian Open - Fantasy DP World Tour ones to watch

The DP World Tour visits mainland Europe for the first time on the 2023 Race to Dubai as the DS Automobiles Italian Open returns to Marco Simone Golf & Country Club.

Rolex Series winner Victor Perez and past Ryder Cup players Rafa Cabrera Bello and Thorbjørn Olesen are joined by a host of fellow Team Europe contenders including the Højgaard twins and Adrian Meronk as Robert MacIntyre defends his title.

If you haven’t already, you can sign up to play the official 2023 DP World Tour Fantasy game and submit your six-man team before round one gets under way on Thursday: https://fantasy.dpworldtour.com/

The 2023 season-long winner will win a trip to the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai next year, enjoy a lesson with a DP World Tour professional and a round of golf on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates. For more information on this amazing prize and others, read here.

Favourite – Victor Perez

The Frenchman is the highest-ranked player in the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex in the field this week at third. After ending the inaugural Hero Cup as one of four players to be unbeaten across four matches for the winning Continental Europe side, he claimed a dramatic first Rolex Series title a week later at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. He followed that up with a top-30 finish in Dubai and a top 15 in Ras Al Khaimah – delivering an impressive 172.3 Fantasy points on average across those three weeks – and will this week be making his first competitive start worldwide since the WGC – Dell Technologies Match Play. In his last two appearances since Italy’s national Open moved to this year’s Ryder Cup venue, the 30-year-old has finished no worse than 18th and last year only missed out on a play-off with eventual winner MacIntyre and reigning U.S. Open Champion Matt Fitzpatrick by one shot. His strong start to the season and a good record at a venue to which he will hope to be returning in September mean it is no surprise he is the most popular pick so far this week, featuring in just over 68 per cent of teams.

Form Horse – Jorge Campillo

In a week where there will inevitably be a lot of focus on those looking to stake their claims for Ryder Cup qualification, one player who arrives in Italy full of confidence is Campillo. The Spaniard won his third DP World Tour title in Kenya to follow in the footsteps of countryman Seve Ballesteros – a performance that saw him crowned March’s Golfer of the Month presented by DP World. In his last four DP World Tour starts, the 36-year-old has finished in the top ten each time and described his closing 65 in Korea last week to finish in a share of third as one of the best rounds of his career. As a result, he is now up to seventh on the Race to Dubai Rankings and fifth on the European Points List for the Ryder Cup. After finishing in a tie for ninth at last year’s Italian Open, he will be hopeful of continuing his fine run of form as he targets a debut at the biennial match play event later this year. He is currently in 32 per cent of teams, making him the sixth most picked player in the field.

Wild Card – Scott Jamieson

This is the third consecutive year that Marco Simone has held the event and one player who has shown a liking for the layout is the Scotsman. After a top ten in 2021, Jamieson followed it up by finishing 16th last year in a field that featured Rory McIlroy, Fitzpatrick and Viktor Hovland. He returns off the back of his best result so far this season, finishing third in Korea last week after threatening his second DP World Tour title and first in more than ten years early on the final day at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea. After Marcel Siem returned to the winner’s circle after a lengthy absence, could this week be Jamieson’s moment? He has so far been selected by just under five per cent of Fantasy players, meaning he could prove to be a good differential option in your mini leagues.

Looking back – Korea Championship Presented by Genesis

Pablo Larrazábal won his eighth DP World Tour title and third in the space of just over a year at the Korea Championship Presented by Genesis. He might not have featured among our pre-tournament ones to watch, but for the 7.8 per cent of Fantasy players who did pick him there were big points to be won. Our Favourite - and clearly that of many others – Adrian Meronk featured in almost 33 per cent of squads and narrowly missed out on a top 20 finish. Both our Form Horse Grant Forrest, who was the sixth most picked player, and Wild Card Richie Ramsay also made the cut but were unable to threaten the first page of the leaderboard over the weekend.

2023 DP World Tour Fantasy player rankings