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ISPS Handa World Invitational Golf Tips
Ewen Ferguson 20/1 2.25pt e/w 8 places – Bet 365
Oliver Farr 45/1 1pt e/w 8 places – Bet 365
Chase Hanna 50/1 1pt e/w 8 places – Bet 365
Matthew Baldwin 75/1 0.75pt e/w 8 places – Bet 365
Galgorm Castle and Massereene Golf Club play host this week to an incredibly poor field even by DP World Tour standards. There will be very few eyes on this tournament from the casual golf fan but to the players, it represents an opportunity to get a win under their belts or help secure their card for next year.
Galgorm Castle is not long by any stretch at 7151 yards and Massereene plays as an even shorter 6817 yards, but with a winning score of -13 last year, it’s no pushover. This week we’re looking for accurate drivers of the golf ball, who have a tidy short game to match.
The top of the market is filled with those who meet that criteria, Jordan Smith, John Catlin and Santiago Tarrio all meet that brief perfectly, but it is Ewen Ferguson who is preferred after a string of impressive tee-to-green performances. Ferguson last lost strokes tee to green back in March and it’s only been a cold putter that has stopped him from adding to that Qatar Masters win. The putter has slowly been improving recently and if it continues to improve, he is likely to be right in the mix on Sunday.
Another player who is likely to be suited for this test is Oliver Farr, as one of the shorter hitters on tour, it’s difficult for the Welshman to compete at a lot of the courses professional golf now visit. However, it’s telling that his best two performances of the year have come at the Soudal Open and the Hero Open, both of which have seen short accurate players do well in the past. Farr was 11th in this last year and with his approach play in a good place can go even better still this year.
It wouldn’t be a DP World Tour event without me backing Chase Hanna, the American blows hot and cold with 14 missed cuts this year to go alongside 3 Top 10 finishes. However, this event is a lot weaker than most and it may just give him the opportunity to go a little better than previous and take that leap onto the winner's step. Two of those top 10 finishes came in the Hero Open and the Soudal Open, as previously mentioned, courses which correlate strongly with this one. He may well miss the cut, but those priced around him at 50/1 do not have anywhere near the ceiling he has and therefore I’m willing to give him yet another chance.
Finally, Matthew Baldwin completes the quartet this week. 2nd here in 2019 before missing the cut in 2020 and last year. However, last year was deceptive as he shot a 66 in Round 1 showing he still likes the course before disappointing with a 75 on the Massereene course. His current form is also strong with him gaining strokes tee to green on his last 3 starts, back on a shorter course after the tough test of Celtic Manor last week and I think he can really excel at a bigger price.
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