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ISPS Handa Championship in Spain
The ISPS Handa Championship in Spain is the first of two new tournaments that will take place in the western European country over the next two weeks. These events will replace the ISPS Handa Championship in Japan and the Volvo China Open, which were not co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour this season due to travel restrictions.
Profiling the Winner
This event will take place at the Lakes Course at the Infinitum Golf Resort in Tarragona. It's a Greg Norman design that features very strategic bunkering and has a high prevalence of water hazards that come into play around the wetlands of La Sequia Major. The par-70 track checks in at just under 7,000 yards, and the only two par-5s are Nos. 16 and 18, setting up a dramatic finish to each round. With danger lurking everywhere, accuracy off the tee here will be much more important than shear power. The greens are on the smaller side, so iron play should be one of the biggest keys to success around the Lakes Course. Rain is expected throughout the week, meaning we should see a more receptive course and a lot of low scores. This course has hosted DP World Tour Qualifying School in the past, so some players may be more familiar with the sight lines and greens than others.
Category Picks
Premium Picks
Players Included: Adri Arnaus, Bernd Wiesberger, Rasmus Hojgaard, Nicolai Hojgaard, Pablo Larrazabal
Guru Verdict: Arnaus has been knocking on the door of his first DP World Tour win for some time. He piled up eight top-20 finishes over his last 12 starts, including a pair of runner-up finishes in that stretch. Arnaus is an excellent ball striker who should get a lot of support in his home country. I have concerns about Hojgaard, who missed the cut in eight of his last 11 starts. However, if he reaches the weekend he could contend, as his other three results during that stretch were T2-T4-Win.
Front-Runners
Players Included: Joachim Hansen, Ryan Fox, Adrian Otaegui, Romain Langasque, Julien Brun, Victor Perez
Guru Verdict: Due to the expected soft conditions, you are going to have to make a lot of birdies this week, and the best in that department is Fox. The New Zealander is coming off a win in his last start and ranks top-30 on the DP World Tour in SG: Approach and SG: Tee-to-Green. Langasque is another player who has struck the ball well this season and has posted five top-25s in seven starts since the calendar flipped to 2022.
Top Englishmen
Players Included: Laurie Canter, Matthew Jordan, Callum Shinkwin, Ross Fisher, Andy Sullivan, Daniel Gavins
Guru Verdict: On a course with a lot of trouble and smaller greens, I feel most confident in trusting a player like Fisher. He ranks seventh in SG: Off-the-Tee, 25th in SG: Tee-to-Green and 24th in GIR percentage. Fisher finished top-20 in three of his last five starts, including a runner-up at the Ras Al Khaimeh Classic. Gavins has been a bit more inconsistent from a results standpoint of late, but he is probably the second best ball striker in this group after Fisher.
International Stars
Players Included: Ashun Wu, Haotong Li, Jazz Janewattananond, Johannes Veerman, John Catlin, Sihwan Kim
Guru Verdict: It's hard for me to look away from Kim's record the last few months. He has been absolutely tearing up the Asian Tour. Over Kim's last 10 starts, he posted a pair of wins and a total of seven top-15 finishes. Wu won in the last few weeks as well and ranks top-30 on the DP World Tour in SG: Approach, SG: Putting and scrambling.
Top South Africans
Players Included: Thriston Lawrence, Wilco Nienaber, Oliver Bekker, Hennie Du Plessis, Daniel van Tonder, Zander Lombard
Guru Verdict: Du Plessis has made 17 cuts in a row while splitting time during that stretch between the DP World and Challenge Tours. Since he moved up, Du Plessis has been lighting it up, ranking top-15 in both scoring average and birdie average. He is also top-25 in SG: Approach, SG: Around-the-Green, SG: Tee-to-Green and GIR percentage. Bekker is probably the hottest player in this group, with top-11 finishes in five of his last six starts.
Euro Elite
Players Included: Thorbjorn Olesen, Alexander Bjork, Antoine Rozner, Matthieu Pavon, Matti Schmid, Marcus Kinhult, Nacho Elvira
Guru Verdict: One man stands above the rest in this category, and that is Pavon. The Frenchman ranks third this season in scoring average and is also top-30 on the DP World Tour in SG: Off-the-Tee, SG: Tee-to-Green, GIR percentage and scrambling. Pavon has made the cut in 10 straight starts and has notched six top-20s during that stretch. A first career win seems to be on the horizon.
Contenders
Players Included: Jorge Campillo, Marcus Helligkilde, Sebastian Soderberg, Hurly Long, Joost Luiten, Kalle Samooja, Mikko Korhonen, Tapio Pulkkanen
Guru Verdict: Long has the clear advantage in this group from a scoring perspective, ranking top-10 on Tour in both scoring average and birdie average. Long finished top-25 in four of his last six starts, including a pair of top-3 results. Luiten hasn't had that kind of consistency, but he ranks top-20 in both driving accuracy and GIR percentage.
UK Challengers
Players Included: Scott Jamieson, Connor Syme, Ewen Ferguson, Grant Forrest, Oliver Wilson, Eddie Pepperell, Jack Senior, Jamie Donaldson, James Morrison, Robert Rock
Guru Verdict: I'm going to roll with Ferguson, who is coming off his first career win at the Qatar Masters a few weeks ago. He has been consistent for some time now, making the cut in 14 of his last 16 starts and picking up nine top-25s over that stretch. On a course that should favor target golf, I really like that Ferguson ranks top-12 on the DP World Tour in both driving accuracy and GIR percentage.
The Selections
Premium Picks: Adri Arnaus
Front-Runners: Ryan Fox
Top Englishmen: Ross Fisher
International Stars: Sihwan Kim
Top South Africans: Hennie Du Plessis
Euro Elite: Matthieu Pavon
Contenders: Hurly Long
UK Challengers: Ewen Ferguson
