Hotshot Higgo Seeking Back-to-Back Victories
Garrick Higgo has won two of his 24 European Tour events and the 21-year-old South African left-hander will probably be a popular selection at 18/1 for the Tenerife Open this week.
Higgo’s putter was a magic wand in the Gran Canaria Lopesan Open last week – he reached 25 under par to triumph by three shots – and he seems to relish coastal tracks which overlook the Atlantic Ocean.
Royal Obidos, where he made his Tour breakthrough last year in the Open de Portugal, fits that description, and Higgo could fall in love with Golf Costa Adeje, which stages the Tenerife Open.
Rounds of 72, 71, 69 and 68 for fourth place in the Austrian Open suggested Higgo was finding top form in time for the Canary Islands Swing – and his 65, 64, 63, 63 blast in Gran Canaria was spectacular.
Plenty of punters will be opting to keep things simple this week – by backing the man who won an extremely similar assignment on Sunday.
Rozner Ready to Rumble After Ridding the Rust
Antoine Rozner made a slow start in the Gran Canaria Lopesan Open, struggling with his swing, which was perhaps understandable given he had not competed since the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.
By Sunday, though, the Frenchman was purring – he topped the greens-in-regulation statistics in the final round on his way to a bogey-free 64 which left him in 15th place.
Rozner should make a faster start in Tenerife and go close to a third European Tour title. The 28-year-old won the Golf in Dubai Championship just before Christmas and followed up with Qatar Masters glory last month.
The 16/1 Rozner could prove extremely generous given he has finished in the top 40 in his last 15 tournaments, beating Bryson DeChambeau and Si Woo Kim in the Match Play.
He has a superb record in Spain, where he won a Challenge Tour event in 2019. He was second in the 2018 Open de Portugal, a formline which stands up well after Higgo’s victory in Gran Canaria.
Danish Youngster Looks Lively Outsider
There are five par-fives for the players to go for at Golf Costa Adeje and power-packed Danish youngster Nicolai Hojgaard will be licking his lips at the prospect.
Hojgaard’s twin brother, Rasmus, has been hogging the attention on the European Tour – quickly winning two titles – but Nicolai has started showing that he could be about to join the silverware party.
Since turning 20 last month, Nicolai has finished seventh in the Austrian Open and 15th in the Gran Canaria Open, seemingly growing in confidence after a slump.
Hojgaard was a superstar amateur, who won a professional event in the Nordic Golf League when still in the unpaid ranks, then he started his European Tour career promisingly with a runner-up effort behind Sergio Garcia in the 2019 KLM Open.
Hojgaard finished fourth in a Nordic Golf League event in Catalonia and the 90/1 chance could go close to a European Tour breakthrough in Spain on Sunday.
*All odds correct at time of writing