2014 Turkish Airlines Open

European Tour

Golf
Published: 11/11/2014

The third instalment of the European Tour`s Final Series takes place in Turkey this week with the hosting of the second Turkish Airlines Open at the Montgomerie Maxx Royal, Antalya.

As the name suggests, the course is designed by Colin Montgomerie and was opened as recently as 2008. This will be only the second time that the course has staged a tournament, the first being this same event last year. During last year`s tournament, four players managed to score 20 under par or lower, with the winner, Victor Dubuisson finishing on 24 under par and there is nothing to suggest that scores will not be similarly low this time around.

With that in mind and the forecast showing calm conditions over the four days, attacking golf and birdies are sure to be in abundance and with the course offering five par 5 holes instead of the standard four, long hitters should be in for a treat this week. Last year, tournament winner Dubuisson, played the par 5`s at 14 under par and the runner-up, Jamie Donaldson, played them at 15 under par and these were the top statistics on the par 5`s during that week. This could be good news for Ian Poulter, who, during last weeks WGC HSBC Champions event went went 10 under for the par 5’s and also did well here last year, finishing tied for fifth place. The Englishman is available at 25/1 with bet365.

Considering their performances last year, Dubuisson and Donaldson can not be over looked but at 18/1 and 20/1 respectively with BetVictor, there might not be enough value there to back them. Donaldson, for example, failed to see himself through to a tournament win at the BMW Masters recently, despite being well placed and this is something that is not uncommon from the Welshman. However, the opportunity to finish as European Tour number one for 2014 is still their for Donaldson and this may give him the extra push to get over the line if he remains in contention during the weekend.

As this is the final event before the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai next week, a number of players are aiming to get a place in the top 60 and thus qualify for that event. A group of around 20 players can still make it in to the top 60 with plenty of points up for grabs this weekend and one man who is right on the brink is Eddie Pepperell. The Englishman is not in spectacular form at the moment but is looking solid and has shown great progress over the last year. With the extra motivation of a top 60 place plus the memory of a third round 65 at this event last year, an each-way bet at 100/1 with SkyBet is worth consideration.

As this event has only been played once before, it`s difficult to look at previous from in that respect but there are other courses around the world that have been designed by Montgomerie. Shane Lowry, finished fifth on a Montgomerie designed course last year and has been performing well in the par 5 performance statistics during the last six months, making him a decent contender for this week. With scores of 65 and 67 over the course of the weekend at this event last year, Lowry has shown that he has got the game to succeed on this course and is available at 50/1 with SkyBet to win the 2014 Turkish Airlines Open.

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Any odds displayed within this article were correct at the time of publishing (11/11/2014) but are subject to change.

11/11/2014     © Frixo 2024

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