Golf
British Masters Preview: Rose to bloom at The Belfry
We preview the DP World Tour this week as the players travel to The Belfry in Warwickshire for one of the most notable competitions on the Tour, the British Masters.
With players from all over the world travelling in for this one, it is Englishman Justin Rose who looks in pole position to land the trophy.
We take a look at the key players below.
Justin Rose – 9/1
At 9/1 Justin Rose is firm favourite to pick up his second British Masters victory over 20 years on from his first in 2002. Rose’s first British Masters title came in his maiden winning year as a professional and he will be hoping to wind back the clock to be victorious again here.
Rose has had a brilliant year so far, winning the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am to end a four-year winless streak. The former world number one has also shown his ability this year with notable finshes of tied-sixth in the The Players Championship, and top 10 finishes in the PGA Championship and Canadian Open.
While The Belfry Brabazon course is certainly not short at 7255 yards, Rose’s lack of distance off the tee is often forgotten as his pinpoint accuracy sees him 24th in the world for driving accuracy, and being on the fairway is certainly better than being 15 yards further forward in the rough. Rose also possesses a consistent, well-rounded game with irons and lesser-distance clubs, ranking 13th in the world for strokes gained with approach shots. He is also very talented on the greens with his putter being one of the his main weapons, ranking 22nd in the world for his putting.
The Belfry is known for it’s challenging conditons outside the fairways, with menacing bunkers being one of those. Many tournaments are won or lost on one hole with major slip ups being a no go at the British Masters. Rose’s ability to get himself out of trouble sees him possess the second best sand-save percentage on the tour, so should he find himself in trouble you can almost guarantee that he will find a way out.
Rose’s obvious ability, coupled with the fact that this is a home tournament for him which he loves, there is every reason for him to go off 9/1 favourite and he will expect to be challenging towards the top of the leaderboard late on Sunday.
Thorbjørn Olesen – 28/1
Thorbjørn Olesen is not a household name in golf, but is certainly one that followers of the DP World Tour will know all too well. Olesen has finished outside of the top 20 in just two DP World Tour events this year, with three top five finishes and one win.
Olesen’s one win this year came at the Thailand Classic, where he shot an impressive 24-under-par to finish four shots clear of the runner-up. In this he carded rounds of 67, 67, 66, and an incredible 64. Olesen’s abilty to consistently score low sees him with an average round of 69.54 on the DP World Tour.
He hits over three more greens in regulation than the average on the DP World Tour, and in combination with his consistent putting game it will likely come down to how the Danish star performs off the tee.
Olesen does not possess eye-catching distance off the tee, but his ranking of 57th on the DP World Tour for driving accuracy makes him above average and he will need to prove that at the Belfry if he is to be up there on Sunday, and odds of 28/1 could provide great value for an each-way place should he bring his low scoring, best game to The Belfry.
