PREVIEW: 2023 DP World Tour – Dutch Open

2022/2023 DP World Tour
Dutch Open
Bernardus Golf, Cromvoirt, Netherlands
25th-28th May

Last week’s action at Oak Hill turned into agonizing viewing for European golf aficionados, with Viktor Hovland’s bunker drama ending his herculean efforts to rein in the relentless Brooks Koepka.

Koepka has firmly reestablished himself as the preeminent name in Major Championship golf. And lest we forget, the DP World Tour is where the burly American cut his teeth.

The Dutch Open

The Dutch Open has been an ever-present fixture on the European Tour since its inception in 1972. It’s had some illustrious former champions, with names such as Locke, Ballesteros and Langer gracing their winner’s roster.

Sergio Garcia won this event as recently as 2019. The 2020 event was cancelled due to Covid, making this the 103rd staging of this event. It has some of its allure in recent years. This is underlined by the fact that KLM dropped their sponsorship of the event following last year’s renewal. This year’s event has reverted back to its original title: the Dutch Open.

Bernardus Golf

This is a nomadic event though this will be the 3rd consecutive edition held at Bernardus Golf Course. This course was designed by American architect Kyle Phillips. Phillips is a links specialist who is responsible for masterpieces such as Kingsbarns and the Grove.

Though it is described as a Heathland test, Bernardus is a true links assignment. It has typically wide-open fairways that make driving accuracy somewhat irrelevant. I’m inclined to favour length over accuracy this week: this is a bit of a beast at 7, 445 yards.

The top three last year all ranked inside the top ten in Driving Distance. There was a difference of ten strokes between the winning scores in 2021 and 2022. That shows you how much wind could play a factor in scoring this week.

It’s hard to gauge too much after two editions but I would look for great links exponents who are able to shine from tee-to-green.

The Contenders

Defending champion Victor Perez makes for a compelling market leader this week. The Frenchman won in Abu Dhabi earlier this year and he is fresh off a brilliant under-par finish at Oak Hill.

The uber-consistent Adrian Meronk actually made more birdies than anyone else at Oak Hill (including the imperious Koepka). Alexander Bjork hasn’t won in five years but comes into this year’s event in excellent form.

Rasmus Hojgaard will be looking for precious Ryder Cup points this week while Jordan Smith desperately searches for the magic that propelled him to last year’s Portugal Masters title.

Past Winners

2022: Victor Perez (-13) *playoff
2021: Kristoffer Broberg (-23)
2020: event cancelled
2019: Sergio Garcia (-18)
2018: Ashun Wu (-16)
2017: Romain Wattel (-15)

To Win Outright:

Odds TBA*

Players to watch

Romain Langasque

I’m opting for a man who performed wonders for me at the recent Italian Open: Romain Langasque. He finished runner-up in Italy and he always has to be taken into consideration on driver-friendly courses. He has fairly humdrum course figures of 22-31. But you have to factor in how poor his form was prior to both those renewals. He will feel well-rested ahead of this week’s event (his Italian Open runner-up finish was his last outing nearly three weeks back). I can just see him thriving this week- in spite of that occasionally errant driver.

Pablo Larrazabal

I find it a bit weird to see perennial winner Pablo Larrazabal trading at these prices. I wonder if this has something to do with his ill-fated association with LIV Golf? In any event, this price is ridiculously high for a man who just won his 8th DP World Tour title at the Korea Championship. He also won his 6th and 7th titles just over a year ago. He was inside the top 10 at Oak Hill after the opening round and ultimately made the weekend cut. I just think 55/1 is an insane price for an accomplished player in good form.

The Man to Beat-Adrian Meronk

I just can’t ignore the excellent Pole this week. Sure, there is a danger of a slight hangover following last week’s exertions at Oak Hill. But this is the man who made more birdies than anyone else at this year’s 2nd Major Championship. And making birdies will be essential at what could be a birdie-fest. The Italian Open champion will be desperate for a win to further press home his Ryder Cup claims. He also has course form to his name, finishing 3rd here on debut last season. He has bagged the Irish, Italian and Australian Open championships within the last year. I would say he has an excellent chance of adding the Dutch title to his collection.