PREVIEW: 2022 DP World Tour – Mallorca Open

2021/2022 DP World Tour
Mallorca Open
Son Muntaner Golf Club, Palma, Mallorca, Spain
20th-23rd October

It’s not every week that you pick up two winners (especially at 30/1 and 45/1 respectively). But Keegan Bradley and Adrian Otaegui delivered the goods last week and I don’t mind taking a brief victory lap here.

And it actually could have been three out of three (Paul Casey momentarily flirted with victory in the LIV Jeddah event). This week the DP World tour continues its Spanish Swing with the 2nd edition of the Mallorca Open.

The Mallorca Open was originally envisaged as a stopgap event to help complete last year’s pandemic-ravaged DP World Tour. But the organizers have to decided to renew the event for a second season.

But the tour will once again test prognosticators with a switch to an entirely new venue: Son Muntaner Golf Club.

Son Muntaner Golf Club

Designed by Kurt Rossknecht and opened in 2000, Son Muntaner Golf Club should prove to be an absolute birdie fest this week. The entire course was reseeded in 2016 (the fairways are Bermuda and the greens are Bent).

It is a par 71 that measures under 7,000 yards. It also looks extremely generous from the tee (which should come as welcome relief after the notoriously tight fairways of Valderrama).

All the par 5’s are reachable and the par four fifth measures just 344 yards. This will be an interesting week with the season-ending DP World Tour Championship less than a month away.

Players in and around the top 120 bubble will need a result either this week or at next week’s Portugal Masters. After that the tour will head to a limited-field event at the Nedbank Challenge.

The Contenders

Rasmus Hojgaard looks a very appealing favourite after a solid top five finish in last week’s Andalucia Masters. He threw away the recent Open de France title after tying the course record at Le Golf National.

Ryan Fox has been an ever-present on leaderboards this year and will be looking to prove that his missed cut last week was purely an aberration.

Last week’s champ Adrian Otaegui will find it challenging to replicate that success after such an emotionally draining experience.

Elsewhere, the likes of Richard Mansell and Yannick Paul have been playing very consistently.

Past Winners

2021: Jeff Winther (-15) *held at Santa Ponsa

To Win Outright:

Richard Mansell 12/1 | Ryan Fox 16/1 | Adrian Otaegui 18/1 | Eddie Pepperell 20/1 | Fabrizio Zanotti 25/1

Value Bets

Nicolai Hojgaard- To Win 45/1 | To Place 19/2

I’m opting to swerve the more consistent Rasmus Hojgaard in favour of his more mercurial twin Nicolai. His form has been terrible (he hasn’t finished higher than 27th over the past two months). But he has flirted with much better results. He was 11th at the halfway mark in his title defence at the Italian Open. And he was 12th at the halfway point of the Open de France. I just have the feeling that this could be a strong week for him. Hojgaard led the field in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee last week at a far more claustrophobic Valderrama. That stat should stand him in good stead coming into this event. He won the Ras Al Khaimah Championship earlier this year and he has a game that can suddenly come together for a given week.

Lucas Bjerregaard- To Win 100/1 | To Place 22/1

2018 Dunhill Links champion Lucas Bjerregaard looked set for potential glory after beating Tiger Woods at the 2019 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. But the Dane has battled with consistency in recent seasons and has generally struggled to keep his DP World Tour playing rights. And this season has been no different: he will need a decent performance either this week or next to salvage his playing card. And he has shown some glimpses of his best form recently. He finished third at the Cazoo Open before a 20th at the Open de France. He then had a decent 23rd-place finish at the Open de Espana. He regularly ranks inside the top 25 in average Driving Distance and I think he could be a real dark horse contender this week.

The Man to Beat- Ryan Fox- To Win 16/1 | To Place 7/2

This is undoubtedly the week to unanimously back Ryan Fox. A two-time DP World Tour this season, Ryan Fox has almost certainly been the most consistent regular DP World Tour player this year. He won at the Ras Al Khaimah Classic and the recent Alfred Dunhill Links. He also has a further three runner-up finishes. Sure, he missed the cut at the super-tight Valderrama layout. But he should thrive at a course that looks ridiculously generous from the tees. Fox is a big driver who will look to eviscerate these gettable par 5’s. Also, the course features five sub-400-yard par-4’s.