European Tour Fantasy Golf Predictions – KLM Open

2018 KLM Open

From the mountains of the Swiss Alps to the lowlands of Holland, it’s a week of contrasts for the European Tour.

Matt Fitzpatrick did the business for us at the European Masters last time out, showing his class on a Sunday in which both Mike Lorenzo-Vera and Lucas Bjerregaard pushed him hard. If Paul Casey withdraws from the Ryder Cup with the back injury that has forced him to WD from the BMW Championship, will Fitz get the call up to replace him?

Matthew Fitzpatrick of England celebrates with the trophy after…

Matthew Fitzpatrick of England celebrates with the trophy after winning The Omega European Masters at Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club on September 9, 2018 in Crans-Montana, Switzerland. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

We’re into that lull period on the Tour now where we’re just waiting: waiting for the Ryder Cup, and waiting for the Race to Dubai to reach its thrilling finale.

Mind you, with no PGA TOUR action this week DFS’ers will be eyeing the action in the Netherlands with interest!

This week we’re off to ‘The Dutch’, an exposed, Links-style (albeit inland) track designed by Colin Montgomerie. This is your classic less-than-driver course, with many holes offering iron opportunities off the tee, but even then finding fairways is not a premium. Last year’s champion, Romain Wattel, found just 50% of fairways despite averaging just 280 yards off the peg.

As you can probably guess then, making GIR and scrambling well are the keys to success, and that was the blueprint used by Wattel and the 2016 winner, Joost Luiten. Unfortunately for the home crowd, the classy Dutchman has been ruled out of this year’s edition with a wrist injury.

The large Bentgrass greens offer little to worry about apart from some sharp run-off areas penalizing errant approaches, and so really it’s hit your irons well and score on the Par 4s; this is a Par 71 layout after all.

The weather can get a little wild in these parts of Holland – namely Spijk, which is not far from Amsterdam – and on Tuesday the wind is expected to reach 21 mph! Happily, things calm down significantly during the tournament, although some rain on Wednesday should soften conditions somewhat.

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This Week’s KLM Open Fantasy Picks & Predictions

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This Week’s KLM Open Fantasy Picks

Eddie Pepperell – $11,500 – This is one of those curious weeks where we have Lee Westwood, without a win since 2014, installed as the top dog in the salary listing.

Surely Eddie Pepperell, with a win to his name this season and who was a shade away from selection in the Ryder Cup team, is a better option?

The Englishman is an excellent Links player, and showed as such when banking top-10s in the British Open and the Scottish Open.

He was also T14 at the Sicilian Open and third here 12 months ago, to further underline his chances.

With the Ryder Cup monkey off his back, Pepperell can now go and do what he’s been doing all year and hit some laser-like irons, make some putts and get right into the mix at the business end of the tournament.

Matt Southgate – $8,500 – Southgate has established a niche for himself as something of a Links specialist, with big performances in the British Open and those held in similar circumstances around the UK.

But it’s noticeable that his form has traveled with him to more traditional layouts too, and the last few weeks have witnessed some excellent golf from the Englishman.

T10 at the Nordea Masters has been followed by T20 and T30 at the Made in Denmark and European Masters, and for a player who is typically errant off the tee a return to wide-open Links suits; especially as he is such a good scrambler.

Southgate’s only ever win came on the Links, so can he summon up years of good memories to get over the line in the Netherlands?

Joakim Lagergren – $7,700 – The Swede has plenty of converging trends in his favor this week, and looks a sharp pick at a sub $8,000 price.

He has won on a similarly Links-style layout at the Sicilian Open earlier in the season, and there’s lots of good stuff on his resumé at The Dutch. In 2016, he sat T2 after the opening round thanks to a 66, and then a year later he was in the lead after 36 holes and T4 after 54.

Lagergren has also won in windy Northern Ireland on the Challenge Tour in 2014, and everything just feels right for a decent week from the 26-year-old.

Jorge Campillo – $7,600 – It goes beyond belief that this classy ball-striker hasn’t opened his European Tour win account yet.

Okay, the Spaniard has had plenty of chances as seven finishes inside the top-three on Tour attests, and so perhaps there is a psychological obstacle that needs to be overcome.

But Campillo’s stroke average in 2018 is lower than it has been in any other year, so the timing feels right for him to finally get that ‘W’.

His form looks dicey on paper, but delve a bit deeper and all is not as it seems. A missed cut in a rare start on US soil in the PGA Championship is forgivable, as is narrowly missing the cut at the British Open.

Look beyond and you’ll see a solo third at the Irish Open and T8 at the French Open this summer, and after a month off he carded decent rounds of 65 and 68 when dusting off the cobwebs at the European Masters last week.

His 65 on the Sunday here 12 months ago was the joint-lowest on the day.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout – $7,000 – The South African has been really impressive this season as he looks to make his mark on European soil.

There’s a wonderful consistency to his game, as evidenced by the fact he has made 15 cuts in 22 starts, with eleven top-30 finishes; including those at the Sicilian Open and the Irish Open on Links layouts.

A little run of 29-20-23 in his last three starts shows he can outperform his lowly salary, with six of those rounds in the 60s.

Ashley Chesters – $6,800 – The young Englishman came to prominence when he finished T12 in the British Open of 2015 at St Andrews as an amateur.

A mixed bag of a career since has shown a trend for excellence on the Links, including T14 at the Irish Open and T21 at the French Open this year.

A lack of length doesn’t appear to be a problem at The Dutch, and in a handy warm-up he finished solo ninth at the Made in Denmark in his penultimate start, closing out with a round of 66.

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