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Porsche European Open
The European Open was founded back in 1978 and was played at a variety of different courses across the United Kingdom -- including Turnberry, Walton Heath, Royal Liverpool, and Sunningdale -- until 1994. It was then played from 1995-2007 at The K Club before moving to the London Golf Club for two years. After that, the tournament was not held from 2010-14 before being revived in 2015, and it has become a staple of the early summer on the DP World Tour schedule. Now, Green Eagle Golf Course in Hamburg, Germany will play host to the Porsche European Open for the fifth straight year. A strong English contingent, led by Tommy Fleetwood, will look to make it five straight wins for Great Britain in the event following victories by Jordan Smith, Richard McEvoy, Paul Casey, and Marcus Armitage.
Profiling the Winner
Green Eagle is a big golf course in more ways than one. The par-72 tips at just over 7,600 yards and features five par-5s, three of which come in the final four holes. Tipping at 647, 595, 594, 705, and 603 yards, it's going to take two massive hits to be able to reach the long holes in two this week.
While there is ample room off most of the tees, the rough can be tricky to judge. SG: Off-the-Tee numbers will be a big key to success this week. The greens also feature a lot of undulation, which will challenge the approach game as players try to get the ball in the correct segment of the green to give themselves a legit shot at birdie and avoid a three-putt. There's a lot of rough close to a number of greens, which has a tendency to decrease the gap from the best and worst short game players.
The weather conditions will be ideal, with no expected precipitation during the four tournament rounds and very manageable winds. In four previous editions at Green Eagle, the best winning score was posted by Paul Casey in 2019 at 14-under-par. It would not be a surprise if that mark fell in the 2022 edition.
Category Picks
Premium Picks
Players Included: Tommy Fleetwood, Adrian Meronk, Jordan Smith, Robert MacIntyre
Guru Verdict: Meronk has been so close to his first DP World Tour win as of late. He is coming off a solo third at the Dutch Open, which was his fourth top-6 finish in his last five starts. Meronk leads the DP World Tour in birdies per round and is sixth in par-5 scoring. He is also third in SG: Off-the-Tee and 19th in SG: Putting. Smith would be a close second option. While he hasn't had as good of finishes of late as Meronk, he is second in SG: Off-the-Tee and first in GIR percentage.
Front-Runners
Players Included: Rasmus Hojgaard, Victor Perez, Pablo Larrazabal, Mikko Korhonen, Adrian Otaegui
Guru Verdict: Hojgaard is comiang off a T10 at the Dutch Open, which was just his second top-10 anywhere since his win last fall at the Omega European Masters. The young Dane possesses a ton of talent and has now found consistency, making the cut in his last 13 starts worldwide. Hojgaard has the kind of power to excel at Green Eagle and ranks top-30 on the DP World Tour in SG: Tee-to-Green and GIR percentage.
Elite Ball Strikers
Players Included: Henrik Stenson, Edoardo Molinari, Adri Arnaus, Thorbjorn Olesen, Thomas Detry
Guru Verdict: Molinari has now made the cut in six straight starts, a stretch which includes a pair of top-10 finishes. The Italian has probably been the most consistent ball striker among this group, ranking 12th in SG: Approach, 19th in SG: Tee-to-Green and 14th in GIR percentage this season. He also scored a T2 last year at Green Eagle. There are some other players in this category like Stenson and Detry who have struggled to even make cuts as of late.
English Stars
Players Included: Matt Wallace, Marcus Armitage, Richard Mansell, Matthew Jordan, Callum Shinkwin
Guru Verdict: Armitage might be the defending champion, but Mansell is the player I have my eye on in this category. The Englishman finished top-30 in each of his last five starts, including a solo ninth at the Dutch Open last week. Mansell also ranks 16th in par-5 scoring, seventh in SG: Off-the-Tee and fourth in GIR percentage this season.
Challengers
Players Included: Alexander Bjork, Martin Kaymer, Haotong Li, Jorge Campillo, Romain Langasque
Guru Verdict: This is a very close race, but I'm going to give the edge to Campillo. The Spaniard has scored a pair of top-25s in his last two events and missed just one cut in his last ten starts. Campillo's game is very solid all the way through the bag. He is gaining strokes in every statistical category and posted a top-25 a year ago in this event.
European Talents
Players included: Richie Ramsay, Yannik Paul, Joost Luiten, Julien Brun, Nicolai Hojgaard
Guru Verdict: While he missed the cut last week, Paul did score a runner-up at the Soudal Open two weeks prior. He also posted a T16 at the British Masters and a T10 at the ISPS Handa Championship in recent weeks. Paul ranks top-25 on the DP World Tour in SG: Approach and GIR percentage this season. He may be on the verge of his first win if he can get the putter rolling in his home country.
Outsiders
Players Included: Jason Scrivener, Chase Hanna, Antoine Rozner, John Catlin, JC Ritchie, Hurly Long
Guru Verdict: On a course with both five par-3s and five par-5s, being good at both of those styles of holes becomes all the more important. This season, Ritchie leads the DP World Tour in par-3 scoring and ranks seventh in par-5 scoring. The South African in an accurate driver of the ball while also ranking top-15 in both SG: Approach and SG: Tee-to-Green. Ritchie has torn it up in 2022 with a pair of wins and 11 top-26 finishes on a variety of different Tours.
Wild Cards
Players Included: Ashun Wu, Guido Migliozzi, Sean Crocker, Thriston Lawrence, Matti Schmid, Joachim Hansen
Guru Verdict: Lawrence has been the most consistent player over the last six months in this group. During that time he owns a win, five top-10s and nine top-25s. The South African leads the DP World Tour in par-5 scoring average and is 10th in stroke average overall. Lawrence is also 31st in SG: Off-the-Tee, 47th in GIR percentage, 47th in scrambling and 53rd in SG: Putting.
Ryan's Selections
Premium Picks: Adrian Meronk
Front Runners: Rasmus Hojgaard
Elite Ball Strikers: Edoardo Molinari
English Stars: Richard Mansell
Challengers: Jorge Campillo
European Talents: Yannik Paul
Outsiders: JC Ritchie
Wild Cards: Thriston Lawrence
