The European Tour rolls into Eladna this week for the Czech Open, and British pair Richie Ramsay and Richard Finch are possible contenders.
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After a break of two weeks, I'm quite looking forward to a return to more typical European Tour action this week. The Bridgestone Invitational and US PGA Championship are both European Tour events but the majority of ET regulars weren't ranked anywhere near high enough to feature in either tournament, so the Czech Open will be eagerly awaited by them too.
This is the third straight staging at the Miguel Angel Jimenez designed Prosper Golf Resort so we're starting to get a feel for the place. In last year's De-Brief I likened it to Crans-sur-Sierre in Switzerland and pointed out that accuracy is the key to success here.
Two Swedes have won here in the last two years - Oskar Henningsson stormed to victory two years ago and Peter Hanson won a three-man playoff 12 months ago, getting the better of Pater Lawrie and Gary Boyd to earn his place of the European Ryder Cup team.
Hanson was ranked second for Driving Accuracy (DA) and first for Greens in Regulation (GIR) and the two I've picked out this year are both renowned for their accuracy.
They don't come much more accurate than Richie Ramsay on this Tour. He's currently ranked first for DA and fourth for GIR, and he could just be ready to win again.
Successful last season, at the South African Open, Richie looked the type to go on and win multiple events. That hasn't happened just yet but time's on his side and this looks an ideal fit, though he hasn't fared well here yet. He capitulated on the final day two years ago when just four shots off the lead and last year he started slowly and finished even slower!
His stats suggest he's in better shape than ever this year though and he was bang in-contention at the Open de France last month before a late collapse. Given he's won events at all levels, I'm not unduly concerned about his temperament and I fancy he could go well this week.
My only other pick is Richard Finch, who I backed three weeks ago, to no avail, at the Irish Open. His missed cut there was a bit of shock given how well he'd played in Sweden the week before when runner-up to Alex Noren.
On that occasion he ranked second for D A, 13th for GIR, 12th for scrambling, and first for putting, so it's fair to say his whole game was in very good order. Finch is always a bit in-and-out and another missed cut isn't beyond the realms of possibility but neither is another sterling week. He's a multiple winner, a fair price, and he finished in the top-20 here last year.
Selections:
Richie Ramsay @ 46.0
Richard Finch @ 46.0
