After two weeks of competition at Celtic Manor in Wales, the European Tour heads to its spiritual home of The Belfry for the final tournament of its six-stop UK swing, the UK Championship.
The Sutton Coldfield course will always be remembered as the venue for four Ryder Cups and this one-off tournament will be the first time it has played host to a tour event since the 2008 British Masters.
Lee Westwood won that tournament the year before that and he will be the only course winner in attendance, although golf fans can still expect to see former Masters champion Danny Willett and two-time Major winner Martin Kaymer in a field which is an upgrade on the one that figured in last week’s Wales Open.
Romain Langaque, who stormed to victory with a closing 65 last week will be hoping to claim a second successive win, while China’s Haotong Li will be expecting big things after he recorded an eighth-placed finish after returning from America, where he was 17th in the US PGA Championship.
Favouristim goes to Rasmus Hojgaard, the Dane having been in excellent form of late, posting finishes of 3-T6-2 on his last three European Tour outings before skipping the Celtic Manor double header. The Dane is priced at 12/1, with England’s Matt Wallace next in the UK Championship betting at 14/1.
However, there are perhaps stronger contenders at bigger prices hidden amongst the field.
Green Primed for First Success
Once again, Malaysia’s Gavin Green put in an excellent performance to finish eighth at the Wales Open and it cannot be long before he is in the European Tour winner’s enclosure.
His weekend rounds of 68 and 69 came too late after an opening 73 gave him a mountain to climb.
But he is ranked 11th for driving accuracy, 15th for driving distance, 23rd for greens in regulation and is putting well too so all the ingredients are in place for another strong week.
He was 11th in the Celtic Classic a fortnight ago and had some good results before lockdown so this could be the week he breaks his duck.
Green is a 22/1 chance to final land a tour title.
Sullivan Should Shine Again
Andy Sullivan finished tied for 47th in his last outing at the Celtic Classic but it was only three weeks ago that he stormed to a seven-shot victory at the English Championship at Hanbury Manor in Hertfordshire.
That was his first success since his golden year of 2015 when he triumphed three times but that showing was a fortnight after he was fourth at the British Masters.
He is averaging just over 69 for his 36 rounds this year and could make another bold bid at odds of 20/1.
Eye-Catching Trio Head to Belfry
Jordan Smith (30-1) has performed well in his last three starts with finishes of 14-22-27 and he got off to a blistering start last week with a 66 only for a third round of 75 to put paid to his chances.
He is emerging as a potential challenger in this sort of company, while Jorge Campillo (66-1) bounced back from two missed cuts to finish eighth last week, even though he had posted a horrid 75 in his first round.
Campillo has the potential to challenge if he is back in the swing of things, while Marcus Armitage (90-1) is a live outsider.
He was 27th last week, having grabbed post-lockdown top-20 finishes in the Hero Open and the English Championship and he was another one who closed well after a poor start, so look out for him building on that momentum.
