European Tour: 2021 Czech Masters Preview

2021 European Tour
D&D Real Czech Masters
Albatross Golf Course, Prague, Czech Republic
19th-22nd August

I am feeling pretty positive after a solid bit of punditry last week. Kevin Na and Rasmus Hojgaard both placed in the 40/1 region. This week sees the European Tour finally depart the British Isles after a seemingly endless UK Swing. I have to admit that I’m pretty glad for the change (there’s only so many Moorish landscapes that one can take). The action now switches to the outskirts of Prague for the 7th edition of the D&D Real Czech Masters. The inaugural version of this event took place in 2014 and last year’s event was cancelled due to the pandemic. The tour has really had to scrape the barrel to augment their field this week, filling the spaces with a raft of invites and national spots. This event will obviously pale in comparison to the huge FedEx Cup Playoff event in New Jersey. However, there is often decent value to be found in these limited quality events.

Albatross Golf Course has hosted every single edition of this event since its inception. Located on the South-Western outskirts of Prague, Albatross looks like a behemoth at 7,467 yards. That’s slightly misleading due to the altitude: this event is played at about 1,300 feet above sea level. Water is in play on nine holes and can become an issue. Generally speaking, this is something of a bomber’s paradise. Long and exposed, this course is absolutely bread-and-butter stuff for the big hitters. Back-to-back par 5’s around the turn measure over 600 yards! It’s little wonder that mega-hitting Thomas Pieters has won this event twice. The similarly massive-hitting Haydn Porteous has also tasted victory at Albatross. I would also keep a keen eye on the par 5 scoring stats this week.

As I alluded to earlier, this week’s field is perhaps one of the weakest fields of the season. The FedEx Cup is obviously a huge issue. But some of the European Tour stalwarts are also taking a break this week ahead of more lucrative upcoming tournaments in Switzerland and Italy. Big-hitting Sam Horsfield is a pretty low-key favourite going into any event. Former Masters Champion Danny Willett lends a sliver of razzmatazz to proceedings (and I mean barely a sliver). With Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington in attendance this week, Willett will be looking for a strong performance to stake a claim for his 2nd Ryder Cup appearance. One surprise late edition to proceedings is the enigmatic Rory Sabbatini. The South African-born golfer recently posted consecutive top 10 finishes for the first time in 27 months. That included his incredible surge towards an unlikely Silver medal for Slovakia (it’s a bit galling to consider that could have been an additional silver medal for the South African Olympic team).

Past Winners

2020: no event
2019: Thomas Pieters (-19)
2018: Andrea Pavan (-22)
2017: Haydn Porteous (-13)
2016: Paul Peterson (-15)
2015: Thomas Pieters (-20)

To Win Outright:

Sam Horsfield 11/1 | Danny Willett 14/1 | Rory Sabbatini 1/1 | Dean Burmester 20/1 | Callum Shinkwin 20/1

Value Bets

Jacques Kruyswijk- To Win 25/1 | To Place 11/2

I think that Jacques Kruyswijk is a European Tour winner in the making. The South African has been very consistent on both the main tour and Challenge Tour recently. He has finished in the top 35 in his last five events. Of the 27 rounds he has played this year, he has averaged +2.25 Strokes Gained Total per round against the field. His average drive is around 307 yards, which should make him an ideal candidate to compete this week.

Nicolai Hojgaard- To Win 70/1 | To Place 15/1

Let’s hope that Rasmus’ brother Nicolai can make it back-to-back Hojgaard picks for me this week. The powerful Dane is coming off a decent 21st place finish in Kent last week. But this course should suit the big-hitting Dane. 2nd at last year’s KLM Open, Hojgaard is yet to win his maiden European Tour title. He also had an impressive 4th place finish at the Canary Islands Championship in May. He was 14th at Celtic Manor recently, gaining almost 11 strokes on Approach and from Tee-to-Green. He ranks 6th in Driving Distance on the European Tour and 22nd in GIR. Should be competitive this week.

The Man to Beat- Danny Willett- To Win 14/1 | To Place 3/1

As I noted earlier, Willett will be looking to impress Harrington and perhaps backdoor a Ryder Cup place this year. His first Ryder Cup outing was a shambles: his brother insulted the Americans and he lost all three of his matches. He has enjoyed some half-decent form this year, with a couple of top 10 finishes on the far more competitive PGA Tour. He was also 11th at the British Masters in May. Willett is back to full fitness after an array of injury concerns over the past few years. He is a class act, winning events such as the Masters, BMW PGA Championship and DP World Tour Championship. He should be ultra-competitive in this field.