The improving Chris Hanson is among David John's picks for this week's Trophee Hassan II in Morocco.
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It has been a month since the Hero Indian Open and plenty of time for the middle rank of European Tour golfers to have a break and/or get in some work on the range before the schedule resumes this week at the Trophee Hassan II in Morocco.
The event returns to Rabat and Royal Golf Dar Es Salam a year on from Jeunhung Wang’s maiden success after getting the better of some tough weather conditions and Nacho Elvira in a sudden death play-off.
Wang has progressed rapidly since and will jet in to defend his crown following a missed cut at Augusta National (78-78).
The 2016 Rookie of the Year is already on the board for 2017 after winning in Qatar and has not shown a huge amount since but more than likely will find this quite a bit easier than mixing it with the very best in World Golf events and majors.
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The Red Course was a bit of brute last year as only nine players managed to finish under par with a winning score of -5 but a much more pleasant weather forecast and the eighth hole being stretched back to a par five should make it slightly less of a grind.
This tournament has been a good hunting ground for Spanish golfers down the years being just a short hop across the sea from their southern coast and the country should be basking in glory after Sergio Garcia’s marvellous success over the weekend at the Masters.
I argued a few years ago that Aussie Brett Rumford could win in South Korea shortly after his compatriot Adam Scott landed the 2013 Masters based in part on feeling inspired and am quite happy to play that card once again.
Elvira and Jorge Campillo have solid claims but I am going to side with the classier Pablo Larrazabal, who seems a very backable price at 40/1 with a number of firms.
It is a couple of years since his last win on the European Tour but another title might not be too far away judged on a T2 already in Abu Dhabi at the start of 2017.
He revealed afterwards that he had been working extremely hard to get his head back in front and although he has not really set the world alight since, a break since the WGC event in Mexico should have given him chance to recharge and refresh along with working on his game.
He has three top 10s (two top fives) in Morocco since 2012 when the event was staged at the other course in use – Golf du Palais Royal in Agadir – and it might work in his favour that he missed last year’s battle against the elements.
That said, he has some competitive experience in Rabat from 2010 (T49) when he carded a five-under-par 68 in round two to make the weekend having fluffed his lines on the easier Blue Course on the opening day.
“Is time to go to Morocco with all Sergio’s spirit..all about believing,” Larrazabal posted on Twitter and although a hugely popular win right across Europe, there should be an extra spring in the step of the Spaniards – in particular the selection, who plays the game very much on his emotions.
The second pick I like this week is Yorkshire's Chris Hanson with his career looking on an upward curve and a promising chance to make a big breakthrough this season.
As mentioned above, I don’t think conditions will be quite as tough as 12 months ago but this place will still have your full attention for all 72 holes – a scenario that Hanson enjoys as he prefers a testing course when the scoring isn’t great.
He was on the verge of quitting the game a couple of years ago but scrapped his way to the 27th and final card at Qualifying School in 2015 before retaining his playing rights in a rookie season on the main tour which saw him finish 108th on the Race To Dubai.
A good reason for that was down to a T5 here and the biggest cheque of his career so far after he led after three rounds but could not quite convert courtesy of a closing 75 as the rain fell and wind howled.
Hanson felt he did not do a great deal wrong though and a year later he returns a much more likely candidate to finish the job with over 100,000 euros already in the bank and a couple of top 25s against much better company in Abu Dhabi and Qatar to his credit.
This event strikes me as one that Hanson could thrive in while the four-week sabbatical at home has been put to good use.
“I didn’t drive the ball great in South Africa and India but my iron play has been fantastic,” he said.
“I have spent a lot of time working on the driver and am on track to have a great week. It is great to get back to Morocco and should be fun to be on a familiar course.”
I think Hanson’s compatriot James Morrison should be thereabouts but his price is probably tight enough at 33/1 so I will take a chance on Florian Fritsch at 80/1 to round off this week’s selections.
The German is well known for his aversion to flying so has a limited number of options to play but managed to keep his card on the European Tour last season in 101st place from just 12 events, banging in three T7s towards the end of the year which earned him over 200,000 euros.
He is attempting to address the issue over getting on an aircraft but it currently looks like he will be able to take part in 18 events so making sure they all count seems a reasonable conclusion to reach.
It does mean some additional pressure to overcome but feels his overland approach leaves him fresher than his peers at times, who have spent hours sitting in departure lounges and I fully expect him to make a positive start on his first competitive outing since Portugal last October.
Fritsch missed the cut here in 2016 (81-69) as he tees it up for a fifth time in the event and achieving anything near the form he showed to secure those top 10s in Switzerland, Germany and at the Dunhill Links puts him right in the picture.
Posted at 1335 on 11/04/17.