Golf
JOE CHAMPION
Joe Champion tees it up
After Max Homa provided us with a 25-1 winner at the Farmers Insurance Open last week, the PGA Tour remains in California for this week’s tournament, the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, where Jordan Spieth, Matt Fitzpatrick and Viktor Hovland are the main attractions in a weak field.
Elsewhere, world number one Rory McIlroy returned to action in fine style, holding off Patrick Reed to justify 7-2 favouritism as the Dubai Desert Classic spilled over into a Monday finish.
The DP World Tour action rolls on to Ras Al Khaimah, without McIlroy and a few other big names, for a wide-open Ras Al Khaimah Championship.
PEBBLE BEACH PRO-AM
While it is a historic contest, the Pebble Beach Pro-Am does not enjoy the elevated event status shared by Phoenix and Riviera over the following two weeks, making for a low-key field.
As per usual, the tournament is staged over three courses over the opening three days – Pebble Beach, Monterey Peninsula and Spyglass Hill. The final round takes place at Pebble Beach.
Unlike last week, when three rounds took place at brutally long Torrey Pines South, all three of the Pro-Am courses are short layouts characterised by small greens, putting an emphasis on iron-play and sharp short-game.
Spieth, a champion at Pebble Beach in 2017, always has to be on the radar for this event but his below-par performances in Hawaii have to be a concern, while Fitzpatrick has the right game for this test but looks a little on the skinny side.
Instead, it’s Hovland who is the most compelling option after he returned with a mid-pack finish at the Tournament of Champions, striking his irons well. There’s no denying that he’s comfortable by the coast, winning titles in Puerto Rico, Mayakoba (twice) and the Bahamas (twice).
While he doesn’t share Spieth’s course credentials, Hovland was 12th at Pebble as an amateur in the US Open in 2019 and his sole previous spin in the Pro-Am saw him finish 38th despite a couple of disaster holes on Sunday.
The Norwegian is comfortable on poa annua greens, finishing second at the 2021 Farmers and fourth at the Genesis Invitational last year, and there is no doubt he’s among the best ball-strikers in the field. It’s only a matter of time before he claims that elusive first win on the US mainland.
Americans have dominated this event but two further Europeans catch the eye in Seamus Power and Thomas Detry.
Irishman Power was slightly disappointing when advised in Abu Dhabi, finishing 20th, but his approach play was excellent and, after a busy start to 2023, a week off should have freshened him up for this Stateside test.
Power opened up with backto-back 64s in the 2022 Pro-Am before fading over the weekend to finish ninth, but he showed enough to suggest that this tournament is a good fit.
Detry, meanwhile, continues to churn out solid PGA Tour results, following a 26th-place finish at the American Express with 37th at the Farmers last week.
The Belgian will be required to rein himself in off the tee but it’s notable that his best performance as a PGA Tour cardholder came at the short, coastal Port Royal Golf Course in Bermuda, when he was a runner-up behind Power.
Nick Hardy has impressed with his approach play in 20 measured rounds this season, ranking fifth on the PGA Tour, and this looks a good chance for the Illinois man to make a real name for himself.
Hardy, who was a solid 44th at Torrey Pines a week ago, can put his pinpoint iron-play to good use at Pebble, where two previous missed cuts were not devoid of promise, including when failing to make the weekend by a single stroke in a star-studded field at the 2019 US Open.
RAS AL KHAIMAH CHAMPIONSHIP
The DP World Tour staged two tournaments at Al Hamra Golf Club in 2022 but this season just one event, the Ras Al Khaimah Championship, takes place in the UAE’s sixth-largest city.
Nicolai Hojgaard claimed the RAK Championship in 2022 while Ryan Fox won the Classic, victories which tell us all we need to know about Al Hamra, which is a wide, straightforward desert layout favouring long, aggressive hitters.
The usual candidates top the betting with Adrian Meronk just shading favouritism ahead of Abu Dhabi winner Victor Perez, who may well be running on empty by now, with Fox and the Hojgaard twins also in close attendance.
All five have obvious chances, but at almost double the price of Meronk, the eye is drawn to Adri Arnaus, another former Al Hamra winner capable of mixing it with the best on the DP World Tour.
The long-driving Spaniard has not quite kicked on over the last couple of seasons but he lives in nearby Dubai, where he finished 13th in the Desert Classic on Monday, and he’s shown a liking for golf in this part of the world in general, including when winning the 2018 Challenge Tour Grand Final at Al Hamra.
Putting was once his Achilles heel, Arnaus performed superbly at Emirates Golf Club last week, something which he will need to do again in Ras Al Khaimah, where he was also ninth in last year’s Classic.
Romain Langasque failed to make the cut in both RAK events last season but Challenge Tour course form of 6-4 is excellent and the Frenchman made a solid return in Dubai, finishing 16th on his first start of 2023.
He’s worth a bet, as is Callum Shinkwin, who putted his way to a share of fourth in Dubai and enjoyed two solid Al Hamra spins when 21st and 25th a year ago.
At bigger odds, Connor Syme was sixth in the RAK Classic and appears to be edging back to top form while the same can be said of Johannes Veerman, who was eighth last week and 12th on his only previous Al Hamra effort.
THE BIG MATCHES FOOTBALL
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2023-01-31T08:00:00.0000000Z
2023-01-31T08:00:00.0000000Z
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