The DP World Tour looks to put a cap on its European Swing with this week’s BMW International Open in Munich, Germany.
It’s been roughly a month since the DP World Tour was last in Germany, when Laurie Canter took down the Porsche European Open in early June.
This event once served as the only DP World Tour event to be held in Germany until the Porsche European Open moved to the country in 2015.
This event once alternated between the Golf Club Gut Lärchenhof and the Golfclub München Eichenried between 2011 and the pandemic in 2020 but has since found a home at the Golfclub München Eichenried for the fourth consecutive year.
With The Open Championship in just two weeks time, this is the final chance for anyone not qualified to play their way into the field at Royal Troon Golf Club.
The Field
This week’s field is once again headlined by former Masters Champion Patrick Reed who remains in Europe after playing last week’s Italian Open.
He’ll be joined by former DP World Tour standout and PGA Tour regular Ryan Fox who heads back to the Tour he recorded four victories on - most recently the BMW PGA Championship this past fall.
Many of the DP World Tour regulars will also be in attendance this week as they look to find form for next week’s Genesis Scottish Open and the upcoming Open Championship.
Those names include Bernd Wiesberger, Jordan Smith, Keita Nakajima, Thomas Pieters, Tristan Lawrence, Matti Schmind and Guido Migliozzi.
A slew of German golfers look to become just the second golfer to win this event on home soil. Martin Kaymer was the only one to do so in 2008.
The list of German golfers looking to win on home soil includes last week's victor, Marcel Siem, who held off Tom McKibbin in a playoff at the Italian Open.
Other notable German golfers teeing it up this week include Matti Schmid, Yannik Paul, Kaymer and Jeremy Paul.
Lawrence is the defending champion, after he chased down Joost Luiten on the back nine to win his first DP World Tour title in over a year.
Other former winners of the BMW International Open in this week’s field include Haotong Li (2022,) Andrea Pavan (2019,) Pablo Larrazabal (2011 & 2015,) Fabrizio Zanotti (2014,) Danny Willett (2012,) David Horsey (2010,) Kaymer (2008,) David Howell (2005,) Miguel Angel Jimenez (2004,) Thomas Bjorn (2000 & 2002,)
The Course
The Golfclub München Eichenried in Munich, Germany plays as a Par 72 at 7,284 yards.
It was designed by Kurt Rossknecht and opened in 1989 as a flat, tree-lined course with greens that run quite slowly.
There are many streams and ponds that run through the course. With the ponds in play, there are two half-island greens and 90 sand bunkers throughout. Water is in play on ten holes.
As the course has matured, so have the trees, which has helped force the scoring to lower. A 20-under-par score would not have been enough to win here in the early years. 2022 was the first time since 2009 that anyone went lower than -19.
Haotong and Pieters both carded scores of -22 before heading to a playoff in 2022.
A slight-renovation took place here prior to the 2019 edition of the event with the majority of the changes coming as modifications to all of the greens.
The course too was lengthened during this renovation which didn’t make that much of a difference. The winning score was just two strokes higher than it had been in 2017.
As previously mentioned with the maturing of the trees, this course was once a bombers paradise but has since turned to reward the straight hitters off the tee.
To put that into perspective, David Horsey, the winner in 2010 at this course, ranked seventh in driving accuracy among the field but 68th in driving distance. Ross Fisher, the runner up in 2010, topped the field in driving accuracy.
Hitting the green too will be important this week as the first and second in terms of greens in regulation percentage in 2019 placed first and second for the tournament.
The difference maker here at Golfclub München Eichenried will be the putting on these slow greens.
In all, this course rewards the best tee-to-green players on Tour.
The Weather
As of the time of writing this, we can expect some wet conditions on the weekend. There is currently an 80-percent chance of precipitation on Saturday and a 70-percent chance on Sunday. Thursday and Friday currently call for just a ten-percent chance of precipitation. Winds will be at the highest on Thursday at 12 miles-per-hour before dipping to just seven-or-eight miles-per-hour across the rest of the week. Temperatures will begin at 70-degrees on Thursday before peaking at 79-degrees on Saturday and then falling to 69-degrees on Sunday. With the way the weather is projecting, those who jump out to an early lead heading into the weekend may put themselves in the driver's seat.
Key Stats
Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (SG: TTG)
Strokes Gained: Putting (SG: PUTT)
Par 4 Performance
Scrambling
Greens in Regulation Percentage (GIR%)
Driving Accuracy Percentage
Sand Saves Percentage
Birdie or Better Percentage
Bogey Avoidance
Betting Card
Keita Nakajima (+2500)
It wasn’t that long ago that Nakajima won the Hero Indian Open. He’s also fresh off a sixth place finish in his last outing at the European Open. He also recently placed T11th at the ISPS HANDA Championship. He’s currently second on Tour in par four average scoring, fourth in SG: TTG, sixth in birdie or better percentage, 15th in scrambling, 17th in SG: PUTT, 18th in bogey avoidance, 19th in GIR%, 86th in driving accuracy and 121st in sand saves percentage. I’m playing two units on him this week.
Thriston Lawrence (+3000)
Lawrence is the defending champion of this event for a reason. He chased down Joost Luiten a season ago on the back nine to claim his fourth DP World Tour title. He’s fresh off a T2nd in his last outing at the European Open. He also placed T2nd at the Jonsson Workwear Open, T10th at the SDC Championship, T19th at the Magical Kenya Open, T2nd at the Dubai Invitational, T11th at the Alfred Dunhill Championship, T10th at South African Open and T7th at the Joburg Open this season. He’s currently first on Tour in SG: PUTT, fourth in birdie or better percentage, 16th in par four average scoring, 21st in scrambling, 24th in sand saves percentage, 29th in bogey avoidance, 38th in driving accuracy, 45th in SG: TTG and 68th in GIR%. I’m playing a unit on him to repeat this week.
Paul Waring (+7500)
Waring is a guy I’ve been on a lot as of late and that’s for good reason. He’s currently fifth on Tour in par four average scoring, sixth in bogey avoidance, 14th in both scrambling and sand saves percentage, 17th in birdie or better percentage, 28th in GIR%, 34th in SG: TTG, 43rd in SG: PUTT and 53rd in driving accuracy. He isn’t in the best of form as of late but recently he placed T10th at the Soudal Open and T3rd at the Volvo China Open. He Also placed T6th at the Qatar Masters. I’m also playing a unit on him this week.
Aaron Cockerill (+11000)
Cockerill comes into this week in some decent form as he’s fresh off a T10th last week at the Italian Open. He also placed T22nd at the Soudal Open. He also placed T6th at the Bahrain Championship and T4th at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic on the season. He’s currently eighth on Tour in par four average scoring, tenth in SG: PUTT, 17th in sand saves percentage, 22nd in birdie or better percentage, 24th in bogey avoidance, 31st in GIR%, 60th in SG: TTG and 88th in scrambling. I’m also playing a unit on him this week.
Comments