European Tour/DP World Tour Thread (**** NO POLITICS ***)

[iBanesto]

Edited September 1, 2023 by iBanesto

[iBanesto]

Right now M. Fitzpatrick and A. Fitzpatrick are 1 and 2 on the leaderboard.

 

[WorkItBothWays]

Billy Horschel and Tom Kim added to Open de France field

https://www.europeantour.com/dpworld-tour/news/articles/detail/billy-horschel-and-tom-kim-added-to-open-de-france-field/

[KennyP]

Aberg on the leaderboard again. Being paired with two Ryder Cup vice captain's means Luke must be seriously considering him for a pick.

[WorkItBothWays]

11 minutes ago, KennyP said:

Aberg on the leaderboard again. Being paired with two Ryder Cup vice captain's means Luke must be seriously considering him for a pick.

I think he'll get picked.

 

Rory
Rahm
MacIntyre
Hovland
Hatton
Fitzpatrick
Fleetwood
Lowry
Rose
Straka
Aberg
? (Meronk, Nicolai H or Bjork)

Edited September 1, 2023 by WorkItBothWays

[KennyP]

3 hours ago, WorkItBothWays said:

I think he'll get picked.

 

Rory
Rahm
MacIntyre
Hovland
Hatton
Fitzpatrick
Fleetwood
Lowry
Rose
Straka
Aberg
? (Meronk, Nicolai H or Bjork)

 

I hope he does. Now is the time for Luke to pick youth and form. The automatic qualifiers bring plenty of experience and will do most of the heavy lifting. I'd go for Wallace, Aberg and both Hojgaards. Lowry shouldn't but probably will get picked. I'm indifferent about Rose. Not sure about Straka either. Meronk and MacIntyre have both won around Marco Simone (along with Nicolai Hojgaard), so I'd favour both of those.

[iBanesto]

Although a Yannik Paul supporter, picking Meronk would be great as he has been quite consistent for a while.

 

Plus if a brawl happens, Meronk can take care of it.

 

Edited September 2, 2023 by iBanesto

[iBanesto]

[ColinKelvin]

MacIntyre was quite lucky to make the cut yesterday (that drive bouncing off the fence and back into play...) but I am glad he did.  It'll be very interesting to watch how this all pans out over the weekend.

 

Meronk was looking strong, until the last two holes.  He looked like he was considering climbing the tree on the 18th to get his ball (although he was also way over the 3 minutes search time).

 

Paul could still make a move today as he's playing well and fought back from a bad start to R2.

[London-HH]

Im not getting all the love for Bob Mac.  The sky team are all routing for him. He is not in form and proved yesterday that he can’t perform head to head under pressure. No place for him in my team!

[iBanesto]

2 hours ago, ColinKelvin said:

MacIntyre was quite lucky to make the cut yesterday (that drive bouncing off the fence and back into play...) but I am glad he did.  It'll be very interesting to watch how this all pans out over the weekend.

 

Meronk was looking strong, until the last two holes.  He looked like he was considering climbing the tree on the 18th to get his ball (although he was also way over the 3 minutes search time).

 

Paul could still make a move today as he's playing well and fought back from a bad start to R2.

 

Yannik Paul has started pretty good for his 3rd round at the moment.

 

He needs more birdies though.

 

[Pastit]

2 hours ago, ColinKelvin said:

MacIntyre was quite lucky to make the cut yesterday (that drive bouncing off the fence and back into play...) but I am glad he did.  It'll be very interesting to watch how this all pans out over the weekend.

 

Meronk was looking strong, until the last two holes.  He looked like he was considering climbing the tree on the 18th to get his ball (although he was also way over the 3 minutes search time).

 

Paul could still make a move today as he's playing well and fought back from a bad start to R2.

It looked like Mr Moronk teed off 18 with a hybrid both times on Friday. I’ve played a few times in Valais, near Cran, and the severe slopes on the fairways are a hazard in most of Switzerland. 
 

So it’s understandable to look:left off 18, but a draw-biased club ? I think not.

 

These marginal Ryder-cuppers will fail against the US IMO, not least because the latter excel at proximity to the pin on approach shots. I think little of this Italian venue, featureless modern course for me. Should have used a traditional links course. 

[ColinKelvin]

56 minutes ago, London-HH said:

Im not getting all the love for Bob Mac.  The sky team are all routing for him. He is not in form and proved yesterday that he can’t perform head to head under pressure. No place for him in my team!

Like a lot of Scottish golf fans I am a Bob Mac fan and I hope he makes the team.  He performed under pressure last week (playing with Donald in the first two rounds) finishing T-4, and a single hole - a quad on a watery par 3 - really cost him a chance to win.  I think/hope Donald knows by now that he is an aggressive player who makes loads of birdies (and has the occasional blow up disaster), and who has a very tidy wedge game.  He's done well in the World Matchplay in the past and he should be a strong fourball partner in the RC.

 

All that said, I actually agree with you that he's not in consistently good form, hasn't had a great season (except for the Scottish Open, which he was very very unlucky not to win), and didn't do well yesterday (very cold putter).  The only caveat is that he'd never even made the cut at Crans-sur-Sierre before so he's obviously not all that comfortable on this week's course, and scraped through the cut when he needed to with a clutch putt on the last.  He also won on this year's Ryder Cup venue course last year, against a strong field, so he has that going for him too.

 

I think Paul or Meronk might just pip him to the 3rd auto spot given how things stand on Day 3, and if so, I'd say he's 50/50 to get a captain's pick.  I can see why some people would argue against him though.  This year's Europe team is fascinating as there are quite a lot of players with a decent claim to the last 3 or 4 spots.

[iBanesto]

1 minute ago, ColinKelvin said:

Like a lot of Scottish golf fans I am a Bob Mac fan and I hope he makes the team.  He performed under pressure last week (playing with Donald in the first two rounds) finishing T-4, and a single hole - a quad on a watery par 3 - really cost him a chance to win.  I think/hope Donald knows by now that he is an aggressive player who makes loads of birdies (and has the occasional blow up disaster), and who has a very tidy wedge game.  He's done well in the World Matchplay in the past and he should be a strong fourball partner in the RC.

 

All that said, I actually agree with you that he's not in consistently good form, hasn't had a great season (except for the Scottish Open, which he was very very unlucky not to win), and didn't do well yesterday (very cold putter).  The only caveat is that he'd never even made the cut at Crans-sur-Sierre before so he's obviously not all that comfortable on this week's course, and scraped through the cut when he needed to with a clutch putt on the last.  He also won on this year's Ryder Cup venue course last year, against a strong field, so he has that going for him too.

 

I think Paul or Meronk might just pip him to the 3rd auto spot given how things stand on Day 3, and if so, I'd say he's 50/50 to get a captain's pick.  I can see why some people would argue against him though.  This year's Europe team is fascinating as there are quite a lot of players with a decent claim to the last 3 or 4 spots.

 

MacIntyre seems more of a streaky player.

 

Meronk and Paul are more steady in their results.

 

Paul is more of a steady Eddy type player whilst Meronk has a game that can dominant courses when he is on.

[WorkItBothWays]

2 hours ago, London-HH said:

Im not getting all the love for Bob Mac.  The sky team are all routing for him. He is not in form and proved yesterday that he can’t perform head to head under pressure. No place for him in my team!

 

I'd suggest they know him well and he's likeable that's why they hope he succeeds plus he's a very good player.

For example, I guess when he took down Rory and Fitzy at the Italian Open doesn't count as handling pressure. He hasn't played this event that much as he doesn't do well on the course so it was always going to be a struggle when he is defending the last automatic spot in the last week of qualifying.

 

He's 55th in OWGR and 6th in the RTD. 3 top 4s in last 5 starts before this week so not sure how anyone can say he's not in form.

 

With respect, terrible analysis.

 

Edited September 2, 2023 by WorkItBothWays

[iBanesto]

M. Fitzpatrick recovered well after the double on 13.

 

[avrag]

10 hours ago, London-HH said:

Im not getting all the love for Bob Mac.  The sky team are all routing for him.

So, what else is new?

[avrag]

9 hours ago, Pastit said:

 

These marginal Ryder-cuppers will fail against the US IMO, not least because the latter excel at proximity to the pin on approach shots.

Like in most Ryder Cups, it will all come down to putting under pressure. Over the decades, the US players have been better in that regard, and it always took special sparks by one or two Europeans to get everybody else going. That's when we won.

[iBanesto]

[Justsomeguy]

On 9/1/2023 at 11:54 AM, WorkItBothWays said:

I think he'll get picked.

 

Rory
Rahm
MacIntyre
Hovland
Hatton
Fitzpatrick
Fleetwood
Lowry
Rose
Straka
Aberg
? (Meronk, Nicolai H or Bjork)

Lowry and Rose have seen better days.

They'd be smarter to get two younger guys who pound it and hope for the best.

Although I gotta say, Rose has been in better form lately than the last year or so.

I don't think they have the guts to leave Lowry off, popular guy good record and all, but I don't think he helps them.

[WorkItBothWays]

10 minutes ago, Justsomeguy said:

Lowry and Rose have seen better days.

They'd be smarter to get two younger guys who pound it and hope for the best.

Although I gotta say, Rose has been in better form lately than the last year or so.

I don't think they have the guts to leave Lowry off, popular guy good record and all, but I don't think he helps them.

Fair comments, just to confirm this is who I think Donald will pick. I'm a fan of Lowry but he has been off the boil. Hopefully he plays well at the Irish.

[diavolo]

Nikolaj Højgaard should be picked for the team. Has been so consistent his year and been in contention every tournament these last weeks. Only downside is that his putting can be inconsistent.

Rasmus Højgaard has been injured much of the year and is not in great form, so would be surprised if he is picked.

Would be fun though if both Højgaards and Aberg are picked, but I doubt it. Maybe Nikolaj and Ludwig only.

[ColinKelvin]

On 8/28/2023 at 8:43 AM, Pastit said:

if we’ve players like Mac in our team we might as well get a refund on our plane tickets. 

 

On 8/31/2023 at 1:39 PM, Pastit said:

You’re right. Do you think this habit saves hotel bills for the Sky crew for one night ? It’s quite pathetic actually. Maybe they have a Scottish accountant LOL. 

 

22 hours ago, Pastit said:

These marginal Ryder-cuppers will fail against the US IMO, not least because the latter excel at proximity to the pin on approach shots. I think little of this Italian venue, featureless modern course for me. Should have used a traditional links course. 

 

 

[grm24]

2 hours ago, diavolo said:

Nikolaj Højgaard should be picked for the team. Has been so consistent his year and been in contention every tournament these last weeks.

Consistently average in 2023 at best and also most of 2022. Tournament results don't lie. You should really look at his actual 2022/2023 results. 

[diavolo]

2022 was an average season for Nikolaj, not 2023. He has been travelling between Europe and US and had a few good results on the PGA tour. But not ideal for him to travel so much.

https://www.europeantour.com/dpworld-tour/stats/

He is pretty high on many of the strokes gained lists..

Also he won on the Marco Simone course 2 years ago and had a 5 th place this season on the same course.

Having an average season and still being 4th on the stroke average list....Then he will blow everybody away when he plays above average..

[diavolo]

Also keep in mind that Nikolaj is still only 22 years old. He is not yet a Mcilroy, Scheffler kind of consistent, but few players finish in top 10 every week...Consistent is also not missing cuts and shooting good rounds most of the time. 

Only his putting has kept him from winning a tournament this year, in my opinion..

[billyspan]

Didn't know about A. Bjork until recently. Saw him (and admittedly dismissed him as an anomaly when I saw his "elevated" spot in the Sagarin & Data Golf Rankings).  An unknown in the States.  Looks very solid. Darkhorse Ryder Cup pick?  Euro Tour looking strong and as deep as ever.  

Edited September 3, 2023 by billyspan
Typo

[Davethegolfer]

47 minutes ago, billyspan said:

Didn't know about A. Bjork until recently. Saw him (and admittedly dismissed him as an anomaly when I saw his "elevated" spot in the Sagarin & Data Golf Rankings).  An unknown in the States.  Looks very solid. Darkhorse Ryder Cup pick?  Euro Tour looking strong and as deep as ever.  

He hasn't missed a cut in a year and his stroke average is 69. 

[iBanesto]

The Fitzpatricks are 1 and 2 at the moment...

 

[iBanesto]

1 hour ago, billyspan said:

Didn't know about A. Bjork until recently. Saw him (and admittedly dismissed him as an anomaly when I saw his "elevated" spot in the Sagarin & Data Golf Rankings).  An unknown in the States.  Looks very solid. Darkhorse Ryder Cup pick?  Euro Tour looking strong and as deep as ever.  

 

Bjork is a very good golfer. He found his form again after a few years of dropped form following his China Open win.

 

His putting stroke looks solid with no unwanted movement.

 

From memory I believe he sold shares in himself to start off his professional golf career.

Edited September 3, 2023 by iBanesto