Antoine Rozner has taken his game to a new level in the last few months and the increasingly confident Frenchman seems a likely contender for this week’s Gran Canaria Lopesan Open.
Rozner is gunning for his third victory in eight European Tour starts, having won the Golf in Dubai Championship in December, then the Qatar Masters a month ago.
His last tournament further bolstered self-belief – a barnstorming debut in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. Rozner had no experience of competing against the best players in the world, but he beat Bryson DeChambeau in his opening match, before taking the scalp of Si Woo Kim.
Rozner has finished in the top 40 in his last 14 strokeplay events and he has headed to a region where he has enjoyed success.
He won a Challenge Tour event in Spain in 2019 and was third in the Andalucia Masters last year. Rozner is available at 14/1 and the favourite will do for plenty of punters this week.
Horsfield Looking to Build On Weekend Fireworks
Second in the betting is Sam Horsfield at 18/1, which is understandable given the way he exploded into life over the weekend in the Austrian Open.
The Florida-based Englishman, who recently returned from a back injury, struggled with the freezing temperatures in Austria over the first two rounds.
As the weather improved at the weekend, though, he made 18 birdies in his closing 36 holes. Horsfield also impressed on the Kenya Swing of the European Tour, finishing eighth in the Kenya Open and third in the Savannah Classic.
The relatively straightforward nature of Meloneras Golf should mean the field feasts on birdies and there may be nobody in this week’s line-up better equipped to make a charge than Horsfield.
He won the 2017 Q School in Spain by eight shots – 27 under par for 108 holes – and has the potential to rip Meloneras Golf to shreds in calm conditions.
Californian Powerhouse a Serious Threat
There must be every chance of back-to-back Californian victors on the European Tour, with Kurt Kitayama well capable of following Austrian Open champion John Catlin into the winner’s enclosure.
Kitayama is available at 22/1, which seems a generous price considering his rock-solid start to this year and his suitability to Meloneras Golf.
Kitayama, 12th in the Saudi International, ninth in the Qatar Masters and second in the Kenya Open, closed with a 69 for 15th place in the Austrian Open on Sunday.
He showed his liking for island golf when winning the Mauritius Open at the end of 2018, then his second European Tour triumph – the 2019 Oman Open – also provided evidence that he will probably take a shine to Meloneras Golf.
Both the Oman venue and Meloneras are made of paspalum grass – an unusual type – so Kitayama’s clear comfort on that terrain stands him in great stead this week.
*All odds correct at time of writing