Damien Kayat previews the 2021 Portugal Masters taking place at the Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course in Vilamoura.
2021 European Tour
Portugal Masters
Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course, Vilamoura, Portugal
4th-7th November
The margin for failure is getting slimmer as the tour winds down to the season-ending DP World Tour Championship. There will be many players in desperate need of some Race-to-Dubai points in this year’s Portugal Masters. This event was first staged in 2007 and was won by Englishman Steve Webster. It has since become a firm fixture on the European Tour and this will be the 15th renewal. There have been some prestigious winners of this event, with the likes of Harrington, Lowry and Westwood lifting the trophy here. Every single edition of the Portugal Masters has taken place at Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course. The Arnold Palmer design was opened in 2004 and staged the World Cup of Golf just a year later.
This is a pretty easy test for the top pros. It is an exposed and expansive track with extremely generous fairways. The bentgrass greens are also larger than average, relegating this to something of a putting contest in recent years. There’s little surprise that putting virtuoso George Coetzee tasted victory last year. I would favour length slightly over accuracy in this event. Prior to the 2019 edition, an effort was made to toughen Dom Pedro up, with the rough fortified by a stronger Bermuda strain. This was obviously a knee-jerk response to Oliver Fisher shooting an incredible 59 in 2018. But this should still be an extremely low-scoring affair.
There are a number of Englishman populating the upper reaches of this week’s betting market. Matt Wallace doesn’t appeal too much considering he last tasted success on the tour in 2018. He did have an excellent showing in the much more competitive Zozo Championship last time out. But I still think that was an outlier for the Englishman. Laurie Canter has been far more consistent while Andrew Johnston has been in some of his best-ever form. Defending champion George Coetzee will be hoping to pick up some form this week. Elsewhere, the likes of John Catlin and Min Woo Lee certainly catch the eye. This is a fairly solid field in what should be an engrossing week of European Tour golf.
Past Winners
2020: George Coetzee (-16)
2019: Steven Brown (-17)
2018: Tom Lewis (-22)
2017: Lucas Bjerregaard (-20)
2016: Padraig Harrington (-23)
To Win Outright:
Matt Wallace 16/1 | Laurie Canter 20/1 | Thomas Pieters 25/1 | Andrew Johnston 25/1 | Richard Bland 28/1
Value Bets
Joakim Lagergren- To Win 55/1 | To Place 12/1
Lagergren just looks way too long at 55/1. He boasts that wonderful mixture of current form and course credentials. He finished 3rd in this event last season and he also finished runner-up just a few weeks back in Scotland. You also have to take into consideration what I said about putting. Putting has proven to be a vital key to success around Dom Pedro in recent years. Lagergren currently ranks 1st for SG: Putting on tour. This makes him a no-brainer at 55/1.
Renato Paratore- To Win 66/1 | To Place 14/1
This is a slightly more speculative one. But 14/1 to place looks very friendly for a two-time European Tour winner who has found some decent late-season form. The Italian finished T11 at the Mallorca Golf Open and T9 at the Acciona Open de Espana. He then had a decent 25th place finish at the more daunting Andalucia Masters. Crucially, he has also ranked inside the top six for Strokes Gained Putting in each of his last three events.
The Man to Beat- Min Woo Lee- To Win 28/1 | To Place 6/1
Min Woo Lee will be hoping to emulate fellow Aussie Benjamin Herbert after the latter won last week’s Bermuda Championship. These two have a weird synchronicity to their career. When Herbert won his maiden European Tour event in Dubai, Min Woo Lee won his maiden event two weeks later. Lee also won his 2nd European Tour title just a week after Herbert claimed his second. Perhaps Lee will harness Herbert’s success as extra motivation this week. Not that he will need it. Min Woo Lee is currently 58 in the world rankings and has plenty of motivation to force his way into the world’s top 50. Lee’s power should also give him a real edge this week. He has won on a wide-open Scottish links previously, meaning these fairways should suit his eye. And he is in great form after finishing runner-up at the notoriously tight Valderrama.
