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Catalunya Championship
The second leg of the new spring Spanish Swing on the DP World Tour takes us to the Stadium Course at PGA Catalunya. Pablo Larrazabal will be looking to double-dip in his home country after winning last week's ISPS Handa Championship in Spain. The DP World Tour's best return to Girona -- the host city of the Tour's first official event back in 1972.
Profiling the Winner
PGA Catalunya has not hosted a DP World Tour event since the 2014 Open de Espana won by a 50-year-old Miguel Angel Jimenez. It is one of the true gems in all of Europe, consistently ranking among the top 10 golf courses since it opened back in 1999. PGA Catalunya is a visually intimidating track both off the tee and into the greens. The course features several deep bunkers both around the greens and alongside some of the fairways. Water will also come into play on a handful of holes. The narrow fairways and small greens will call on precision to navigate the course successfully. The par-3s will play difficult, so the four par-5s are where players will need to score. Add it all up, and ball striking figures to be the key stat when determining this week's winner.
Category Picks
Premium Picks
Players Included: Jordan Smith, Adrian Otaegui, Rasmus Hojgaard, Pablo Larrazabal
Guru Verdict: Larrazabal probably will be the most popular pick in this category after notching two wins and five top-6 finishes over his last six starts, but for me, Smith is the best fit. The Englishman has been a ball-striking machine this season, ranking sixth in SG: Off-the-Tee, 20th in SG: Tee-to-Green and second in GIR percentage. Smith will be fresh after taking the last few weeks off. He has a pair of runners-up and six top-25s in all over his last eight starts.
English Elite
Players Included: Marcus Armitage, Laurie Canter, Matthew Jordan, Ross Fisher, Richard Bland
Guru Verdict: Bland is easily the highest ranked player in this category, but Armitage is the best play, having tallied seven top-20 finishes over his last 10 starts. Armitage has been very strong from a ball striking perspective, ranking top-25 in SG: Approach, SG: Tee-to-Green and GIR percentage. Success in those three areas is paramount to finding success at PGA Catalunya.
Front-Runners
Players Included: Adrian Meronk, Adri Arnaus, Bernd Wiesberger, Ryan Fox, Oliver Bekker
Guru Verdict: We're splitting hairs a bit in this category, but I really like the consistency of Bekker. The South African, when making the cut, finished outside the top 20 just once over his last sixteen starts. Bekker ranks top-8 on Tour in scoring average, birdies per round and par-5 scoring. He is also gaining strokes in every category this season.
European Talents
Players Included: Romain Langasque, Nicolai Hojgaard, Victor Perez, Joachim Hansen, Mikko Korhonen, Antoine Rozner
Guru Verdict: Langasque missed the cut last week after a T9-T8-T21 stretch prior to that. I see the Frenchman bouncing back at PGA Catalunya. Langasque ranks top-50 on Tour in SG: Approach, SG: Tee-to-Green, SG: Putting, GIR percentage and scrambling. Rozner is the only other player in this category that rivals Langasque's recent consistency.
Challengers
Players Included: Julien Brun, Thriston Lawrence, Hennie Du Plessis, Jason Scrivener, Jamie Donaldson, Matthieu Pavon
Guru Verdict: Du Plessis is the man who stands out above the rest here. He is coming off a T3 finish in last week's event and has not missed a cut in his last 18 starts worldwide. That stretch includes a whopping 12 top-20 finishes. Du Plessis is pacing the DP World Tour in par-5 scoring average and is top-35 in SG: Off-the-Tee, SG: Approach, SG: Around, SG: Tee-to-Green and GIR percentage.
Outside Chances
Players Included: Jorge Campillo, John Catlin, Scott Jamieson, Thorbjorn Olesen, Johannes Veerman, Sihwan Kim
Guru Verdict: It's really difficult to look past Jamieson in this category. The Scot finished top-20 in six of his last eight starts and is top-20 in scoring average and birdies per round on the DP World Tour. Jamieson isn't the ball striker that some of the other players I've pointed out are, but clearly the man has been finding other ways to get the job done.
International Stars
Players Included: Jazz Janewattananond, Ashun Wu, Shubhankar Sharma, Aaron Cockerill, Kalle Samooja, Haotong Li
Guru Verdict: Cockerill has been one of the better Canadian players we've seen on the DP World Tour in some time. This season he ranks fifth in scoring average and ninth in birdies per round. Cockerill has been strong over his last four events, going T2-T28-T21-T3 in that stretch. He is an accurate driver and solid iron player, and he is also leading the Tour in SG: Putting this season at a ridiculous 1.62 strokes per round.
Big Hitters
Players Included: Tapio Pulkkanen, Callum Shinkwin, Matti Schmid, Guido Migliozzi, Daniel van Tonder, Francesco Laporta, Connor Syme
Guru Verdict: This may be the trickiest category to navigate, but I like what I see from Syme. The Scot finished top-35 in five of his last six starts and ranks sixth on Tour in par-5 scoring average. Syme is one of a select group of players who are gaining strokes in every category this season.
The Selections
Premium Picks: Jordan Smith
English Elite: Marcus Armitage
Front-Runners: Oliver Bekker
European Talents: Romain Langasque
Challengers: Hennie Du Plessis
Outside Chances: Scott Jamieson
International Stars: Aaron Cockerill
Big Hitters: Connor Syme
