Ahead of the Trophée Hassan II our Stats Guru has crunched the numbers and makes a case for three inclusions in your fantasy teams this week.
Favourite: Joost Luiten
The six-time European Tour winner definitely merits selection. Since coming back from a wrist injury in October last year, the Dutchman has clawed his way back up to the summit of the European game.
Luiten has recorded three top-ten finishes in some of the most lucrative events on the 2019 Race to Dubai – most notably third place in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA, the first Rolex Series event of the season.
Those results have come after a string of excellent final day displays – he fired a closing 65 in Abu Dhabi to finish third, a 64 in Mexico to finish tied tenth and a 63 in Saudi Arabia to finish sixth. But it hasn’t just been a case of leaving it late for Luiten, whose approach play has also been outstanding in 2019.
The 33-year-old ranks third in strokes gained tee to green (+2.588), and fourth in strokes gained approach (+1.787) this season, which will stand Luiten in good stead on the tight, tree-lined layout at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam.
Add in the fact that the World Number 71 has finished ninth and 13thin his last two starts in Morocco and you’ll see why we’re touting Luiten as the man to beat this week.
Form horse: Jorge Campillo
Quite simply, he is Mr Consistent. Last year Campillo recorded seven top tens, the joint-third most by any player on Tour, and the Spaniard has carried on in the same fashion this year, notching two runner-up spots and a third-place finish in his last four starts.
During that run Campillo has only shot one round higher than a 73 – which was a six over par score of 78 at the Oman Open during the second day in Muscat, when windy conditions wreaked havoc.
Despite six runner-up finishes on the European Tour a maiden title still eludes the 32-year-old.
With one top-20 to his name after two starts in Rabat, we expect a confident Campillo to improve on that effort on his third trip to the Moroccan capital.
Wildcard: Alvaro Quiros
Quiros is yet to string a run of results together this season, but you can never write him off.
The seven-time European Tour winner may have only made three cuts in nine starts this term, but one of them resulted in a share of third place at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, where he went toe-to-toe with some of the game’s best players.
When the Spaniard is good he is very good, as was the case in Morocco last season. The par 72 course at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam is a lengthy 7,632 yards with heavy rough – requiring both length and accuracy off the tee.
Quiros had both in spades last year, averaging 306.1 yards in driving distance over the four days, finding the fairway on average 69.5 per cent of the time.
That supremacy off the tee yielded in an excellent week, where the 36-year-old carded rounds of 67-70-72-72 to finish in solo second, just one shot behind eventual champion Alexander Levy.
Although he has found the going tough more often that not during the 2019 campaign, this may be the week Quiros bounces back at a course where he found plenty of joy only 12 months ago.
Those are our picks, did we do enough to convince you? Add them to yourEuropean Tour Daily Fantasy Gameand your line-up in the Fantasy Race to Dubai before the action begins tomorrow.
