David John has four selections for this week's BMW International Open golf on the European Tour.
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The top end of the betting for this week’s BMW International Open in Munich has a trappy old look to it in as much that some high-quality performers tackle the event on the back of a draining US Open week.
The tournament returns to Golfclub Munchen Eichenried having been staged in soggy Stuttgart 12 months ago with defending champion Henrik Stenson, Masters champion Sergio Garcia, Bernd Wiesberger and Tommy Fleetwood all hopping back across from the American mid-west.
Garcia and Stenson are trading at single-figure quotes after the Spaniard flitted in and out of contention at Erin Hills before finishing T21 while Stenson got no further than Friday’s halfway cut.
Wiesberger made his first ever weekend in the US Open and then managed to hang on for a very creditable place in the top 20.
It was a step up on a rather flat effort in Austria the previous week but the spotlight will be very much on him again as one of the tournament favourites with expectations high he can make a positive impact.
Fleetwood was right in the thick of the action and earned plenty of plaudits after the way he battled to finish in fourth place on his own behind Brooks Koepka.
A fit and healthy twentysomething, it is still going to take a big effort physically and mentally to remain competitively sharp and he would not be the first golfer to find his exertions catching up with him if he makes it as far as the final 36 holes.
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There was some promise the last time we saw Joost Luiten in Austria and hopefully he will be able to build on an eye-catching closing 66 in an event where he has a very sound overall record.
A former winner just outside Vienna, he performed moderately for three days but a telephone conversation with swing coach Phil Allen on Saturday evening did the trick as his final round saw him climb up inside the top 10.
“It was the transition from the top of the backswing to the downswing,” Luiten explained.
“It was only fractions but it made a big difference and the swing feels much better.”
It sounds like a nice foundation for the Dutchman moving forward and a week off leads me to take a reasonably optimistic view that body and mind will be fresh with no travelling to Wisconsin.
Sporting Life Special: Luiten, Bertasio, Chawrasia or Siem to win outright - 18/1!
Ernie Els had a new putter in the bag for the US Open and it seemed to do the trick to some extent as he played all 72 holes but his effort petered out over the last two days to finish well down the field.
This is an obviously an easier assignment and the former champion might look a relatively tempting price but the big South African has battled a few physical issues in the first half of the season and repeating his victory here from 2013 looks a tough assignment.
Martin Kaymer chipped away also at Erin Hills and took the title here way back in 2008 but at around the 22/1 mark I am not that convinced he is on the verge of another success.
One player who has been in the winner’s circle in 2017 is SSP Chawrasia and he could be worth a try at a rather insulting 200/1.
His victory in India was my favourite of the year to date as the diminutive pro from Calcutta proved all the naysayers – me included – wrong at that monstrous course just outside of Delhi.
SSP jets in from Asia having finished T15 at the Queen’s Cup in Thailand behind Nicky Fung, let down at the weekend by rounds of 72-73 as he attempts to dislodge David Lipsky from top spot in the Asian Tour Order of Merit.
He gets a bit of a break from that quest and admitted he will need a better display on the greens although added: “I am hitting it really good. My confidence is high and I feel really good.”
He will encounter some of the best putting surfaces in Europe in Munich this week so there should be no excuse on that front and although this will be his first crack at the event since 2010, he has managed a previous top 25.
I am going to put up another two selections at big prices with Marcel Siem and Nino Bertasio worth a second glance.
The home team has some reasonably strong potential but Siem could be of most interest with his close connections to Eichenried after he learned the game here while his parents managed the club’s restaurant.
His history in the event stretches right back to 1998 with four top-15 finishes along the way and another good effort could be on the cards after playing well in Sicily and Sweden recently.
Siem admitted at the former he had started to find something in his game which was confirmed again at the Nordea Masters so could be worth another chance to deliver the goods with home galleries now to cheer him on.
Bertasio has shown signs too of flickering into life at this level having progressed from the Alps Tour where he was a multiple winner.
The Italian needs to start putting four rounds together but flashes at Wentworth and a closing 67 in the Lyoness Open both yielded top 15 finishes and it would not be the biggest shock in the world to see him get into genuine contention at the weekend pretty soon.
We have already had victories this year from his compatriots Edoardo Molinari and Renato Paratore so a third would be a remarkable effort but it should certainly serve as a source of inspiration.
If it is not to be his week, keep an eye on him though in the near future as he revealed in an interview he did last year that he loves playing in Britain and Ireland – July is packed full of tournaments in that part of Europe.
Posted at 1045 BST on 20/06/17.
