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The 100th KLM Open takes place at a new course, the Ian Woosnam- and Bruno Steensels-designed The International which opened in 2012. As is tradition in this event, it is played at a links-style course having rotated between Hilversumsche GC and Noordwijske GC for many years, then Kennemer G&CC for three years and finally The Dutch for the last three years. Course rotation makes previewing an event difficult, but there is still continuity in the type of course being used. As with all the courses listed above, the KLM Open will be played on a course less than 7,000 yards in length, so quite a contrast with last week. Such yardage is common on links courses and will test all aspects of the players’ game, as well as their mental ability to plot their way around a links course. This week’s course is a little different to the predecessors in that it is a par-73 – the rest have been par-70 or par-71 courses – and there are five par-5s. None of these is particularly long – the longest is 559 yards – but with all links course, yardage is not a true reflection of hole difficulty. Given the number of par-5s, it is likely that the final score to par will be very low. If that is the case and this course is used again, it is likely that some of these par-5s will be converted to par-4s. The rough is described as penal and while the fairways are not particularly narrow, they are undulating so control off the tee will be necessary to keep the ball out of the rough. The greens are large and apparently in very good condition. As last week, there is only limited course-specific information on which to draw conclusions on the types of player to be successful here, so the following are offered cautiously. Angles to consider 1. KLM champions have a links pedigree The last two winners, Ashun Wu and Romain Wattel, were priced at 125/1 and 175/1 respectively and so would be obvious ones to prove exceptions to the rule, but Wu had been 5th and 6th after the first two rounds the previous year and Wattel had already secured a top-5 finish in this event, plus had secured top-25 finishes in the last two Scottish Opens and the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. Behind them, the winners were Joost Luiten (twice), Thomas Pieters and Paul Casey, who all had good links records including in this event. 2. Control off the tee will be important This does not appear to be a course that can be overpowered, so accuracy from the tee will be important, both to avoid the penal rough and to provide the best angles to the flags on the large, well-bunkered, greens. This is typical for a links course and this course should be no different. 3. Fairways and greens is the recipe for success Combing accuracy off the tee with accuracy with approach play should produce low scores on most European courses, but principally on short, links-style courses. These type of courses are a test of a player’s all-round game, so strokes gained – tee-to-green and greens in regulation should be the key stats this week. Selections The above angles have been used to create a shortlist from which the following players have been selected. Patrick Reed A year after finishing 2nd in the Race to Dubai, Reed is still committed to being a global player. He played last week, will play in the BMW PGA Championship next week and then return for the DP World Tour Championship and the Hong Kong Open. With such a clear structure to his schedule, he is expected to be a strong competitor each week. Last week’s 36th place finish can be discounted as his 1st round score took him out of contention. On a link course, he should perform better than last week – he recorded his third top-20 finish in the last five Open Championships this summer. As the best player in the field by some distance and a winner of The Northern Trust last month, he deserves favouritism. Mikko Korhonen Korhonen’s links credentials are also good for the type used in this event: he has secured a top-40 finish in all seven previous attempts in this event. His success in this event arises from his accurate all-around game – he ranks 20th in driving accuracy and 22nd in greens in regulation on the European Tour – so he should be well-suited to this week’s course. Chris Paisley Paisley has top-15 finishes in the Scottish Open and the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, so he is competitive on links-style courses. He also had decent weeks at the Irish and Scottish Opens this summer and had shown good form in Denmark and Belgium over the summer as well. He won the 2018 South African Open around Glendower GC which requires plenty of accuracy off the tee. Worth speculative interest as an outsider, particularly given the last two winners of this event. Tips 0-3; -6.00pts 1.5pts e.w. Patrick Reed 17/2 (Coral 1/5 1-2-3-4-5-6-7) 15th 1pt e.w. Mikko Korhonen 45/1 (Paddy Power, Betfair Sportsbook 1/4 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8) 65th 0.5pts e.w. Chris Paisley 100/1 (Bet365 1/4 1-2-3-4-5) 27th
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