The European Tour rolls into it’s latest stop at the Porsche European Open this week, where Thongchai Jaidee is defending champion. Who’s likely to contend this year?
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Before the European Tour takes a week off for the show-stopping spectacle that is the Ryder Cup next week, there’s the little matter of the Porsche European Open to be sorted out first.
A staple of the schedule for a long time, the European Open has experienced a tumultuous run in recent years, moving from its long-time home of the K Club in Ireland, to a short-lived spell in France and now settling in for its second year in Germany.
Last year’s event at Golf Resort Bad Griesbach produced an exciting and closely contested tournament, and the expectations will be for similar this week.
Tour veteran Thongchai Jaidee is the defending champion heading into the week, but with Ryder Cup bound Thomas Pieters and Martin Kaymer, as well as multiple time major champions Ernie Els and Padraig Harrington also in attendance, there’s no real shortage of star power in Germany.
Who will come out on top though? Our power rankings highlight 10 of the leading contenders.
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Thomas Pieters
No. 39, Ryder Cup Star In Waiting
Not to be forgotten in the aftermath of that forced withdrawal, the Belgian played his way into Darren Clarke’s wildcard thinking with a win, runner-up and fourth placed finish in his last three starts.
Pieters was the form player in the world before a bump in the road with illness, and will be looking to reach those heights again in Germany. Not lacking in confidence, a statement win at the European Open would see Pieters stake his claim for a central role in Darren Clarke’s Hazeltine pairings.
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Martin Kaymer
No. 52, Consistently Rounding Into Form
Kaymer’s form is better than many likely realize though. Since mid-April, Kaymer has notched up six top-10 finishes on the European Tour, and only placed out of the top-20 in the US Open and Open Championship.
As one of the few real Ryder Cup veterans on Europe’s team next week, Kaymer’s importance can’t be understated. He’ll be looking to bring his good form to new heights in preparation.
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Bernd Wiesberger
No. 58, Runner-Up At KLM Open
The Austrian has grown into an incredibly well-rounded player as his game has progressed, and with a second placed finish in his last start at the KLM Open, Wiesberger offered golf fans around the world a clear reminder of that.
Fresh off of a week’s rest during the Italian Open, Wiesberger should look rejuvenated when he tees it up in Bad Griesbach and as one of the Tour’s best players in greens in regulation, you can bet on him creating opportunities to score.
4
Scott Hend
No. 69, Good Recent Form
Hend recently completed something of a rare feat, playing in the final group of both the Omega European Masters and KLM Open in back-to-back weeks, where in spite of solid play on both occasions he failed to get across the line.
On top of having strong recent play to draw upon in trying to change that this week, the veteran Australian also has a good track record to call upon having finished in fourth at this event 12 months ago. All signs point towards another good week for Hend.
5
Richard Bland
No. 141, Threatening A Win
Bland has gotten right into the thick of contention in the past three weeks, and has scored in the 60s in 11 of his last 12 rounds on the European Tour. The difficulty has come in closing for Bland, whose Sunday stroke average in that span comes in at 70.3 as opposed to the 66.7 strokes he’s been averaging on Thursday through Saturday.
Much like Scott Hend who’s been in a similar vein of form, Bland also performed well at Bad Griesbach last year with a top-10 finish. If fatigue isn’t a factor from his busy schedule, there’s no reason Bland can’t make some noise again.
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Thongchai Jaidee
No. 46, Defending Champion
Jaidee has a win in each of the last three seasons, with last year’s coming at this exact event. Further proof of Jaidee’s continued relevance came earlier this year when he beat out one of the most talented fields of the year on tour to claim his single biggest pay day of his career at the French Open.
Jaidee looked convincing at this course last year, and in spite of missed cuts in his past two starts, the veteran’s standing in the top 50 of the World Rankings is proof that he still has what it takes to win on any given week.
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Bud Cauley
No. 277, Making The Most Of Recent Form
Cauley’s last two starts came in the penultimate fortnight of the PGA tour’s regular season, and with a tied eighth finish at the John Deere Classic followed up a week later by a tied 10th finish at the Wyndham Championship, it’s clear that the 26-year-old had found some form.
A former winner on the Web.com Tour, Cauley has shown that he knows how to win if he gets a chance and while many of his peers enjoy their time off, he could put himself in a position to do just that in Bad Griesbach.
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Rikard Karlberg
No. 82, Strong Finish In 2015
Karlberg gave another strong example of the quality of his game earlier this summer with a solo second placed finish at Wentworth which was immediately followed up with a top-10 finish at the Nordea Masters, and buoyed by last week there’s a chance he could leave his mark again.
Karlberg was another who looked at home on this course last year, already boasting a fifth placed finish at the Porsche European Open heading into this week, he certainly has what it takes to get his hands on the trophy.
9
Alejandro Canizares
No. 147, Hitting A Stretch Of Top-10s
After a challenging mid-summer period, Canizares has stumbled into a rich vein of form. Seventh at the Italian Open, fourth at the KLM Open and fifth at the Paul Lawrie Matchplay gives the 33-year-old three top-10 finishes in his last four starts, with the other being a top-25 at the Omega European Masters.
Canizares is another who played this event last year, and although he didn’t truly get into contention, a top-25 finish should at least mean he has already established a level of comfort with the course.
10
Robert Karlsson
No. 365, European Legend Finding His Game Again
Karlsson has had a dreadful season on tour, making only nine cuts overall, but he has now played the full four rounds in his last five starts. That’s included some real glimmers of hope for the veteran too.
Karlsson was seventh at the Czech Masters, 15th at the Made in Denmark and if not for a closing 74 last week he would have placed much better than his eventual 30th. A 66-65-68 start in Italy showed Karlsson still has what it takes, now its just about executing.
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