Montecchia Open

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Toby Tree  - 1 point ew @ 80-1 Skybet

Philipp Mejow - 1 point ew @ 80-1 Skybet

Joel Girrbach - 0.75 point ew @ 100-1 365

Jack Senior - 0.75 points ew @ 125-1 365 

Alessandro Tadini - 1 point ew @ 80-1 Skybet 

A new venue for this Tour (and most others on research) but like many on mainland Europe this is expected to be a real test with an opening 514-yard par 4, three par-3s of 225-yards-plus and wet weather on a tree-lined track containing plenty of hazards!

No surprise if any of the class element take the prize, with Romain Langasque and Jordan Smith heading the charge but the former hasn't quite proven his undoubted ability yet and Jordan has shown his form when he can go after plenty of birdies so this may not be the best time to be with them.

Instead I am happy to stick with three players that have already been backed this year and are well worth following for a while.

Toby Tree continually picks himself at odds of 50-1 and more and he has done nothing yet to curb my enthusiasm. Little to add since the previous time he was backed and although he keeps finishing in the 30s, he is yet to put it quite all together. His form in South Africa suggests he can show in the top echelons of this grade and I am assured by the great man himself that he just couldn't buy a ten foot putt last week in Turkey, and there were plenty of them. There is the slight worry that his clubs were not put on his flight today but they were due some hours ago and with his coach in tow this week and a promising effort in this event last year, may finally realise his undoubted potential.

I felt that Philipp Mejow may be a one-trick pony and his best chance was in Egypt but he has countered that argument. Winner of the ProGolf OOM last season he sandwiched his second place in the Progolf Tour Championship with an excellent top-40 in the European Open at Bad Griesbach (final round 66) and a win at Las Colinas at the second stage of qualifying for the main tour, opening with 64 and closing with an equally impressive 66. Although openning with an eye-ctaching 68/65 in favoured Egypt, he couldn't carry that through to the weekend and I felt his season may be gone at this level after narrowly missing the cut in Spain. However a final round 68 in Turkey pushed him up from 29th to 18th and that confidence can carry him through on a course where his good driving may give him some advantage.

Joel Girrbach is a young Swiss player going places. Highly rated in his home country, he had a very decent amateur career and, maybe significantly, with form in Italy. Winner of the Finnish amateur, he was 2nd in the Italian amateur strokeplay (2012) and 6th at the country's matchplay event whilst he repeated a top-3 at the strokeplay in 2014. Clearly comfortable in Italy, he impressed greatly when staying with a rampaging Jordan Smith in Egypt throughout the final 2-ball, and couldn't put me off after that 7-birdie 66 in the last round last week which helps after a disasterous couple of treble-bogey 7s the day before. The 22-year-old clearly has the game to compete and given his ease here may go far better than the odds imply.

Certain players come to mind when the going gets tough - Orrin, Coles, Hanson, but it's very possible that Jack Senior will be the last man standing. Winner of the pretigious Lytham Trophy and team member of Andy Sullivan in the 2011 Walker Cup, Senior has wins at all levels so far. Twice winner on the Alps Tour (including a victory in Italy), he also won twice on the PGA EuroPro Tour but it is his best efforts at CT level that catch the eye. A win and 4th at Spey Valley give him form a certain look but that 7th at the Swiss Challenge and top-5 in Denmark on the toughest track of the year makes his profile. Top that with a superb top-20 in Morocco last week indicating a return to form and 125-1 will look huge if the bad stuff arrives.

When in mainland Europe, there is always a prominent display by home players. We find it generally in Spain, where players who do little all year come to life, and generally the same is true in Italy. As such, the list included quite a few but I settled for Alessandro Tadini. Vastly experienced, the 42-year-old won't have the improvement of his younger rivals but if it gets tricky here he will know what to do to gain best placing. Numerous top-20s and top-10s litter his card when at home with just one missed-cut in his last nine home events at all levels and a 3rd and 5th  since 2012. Finishing 17th in Egypt was useful enough but the closing three rounds in Turkey may be far more relevant with 69/69/67 looking an excellent warm-up for the return. It was close with Matteo Delpodio but with that player withdrawing in Madrid, the bigger price won the day.