KLM Open Tips 2019

A step into the unknown can often act as a leveller in golf and with no guarantee that the market principals are likely to take to The International on their competitive debuts, I’m happy to take a more speculative approach this week with former KLM Open winner Romain Wattel heading my team.

KLM form of 1^st, 5^th and 6 missed cuts scattered in-between tells us that it’s very much hit or miss for the Frenchman when he ventures north-east to Holland, however there are enough signs of late that he might be about to produce one of his big weeks here as opposed to catching an early flight.

20^th at the Scottish Open saw the 28 year-old lead after the first round with a sparkling 63 and although he couldn’t continue that form for the remainder of the event, it came after a wretched spell of form that had seen him miss 12 out of 13 cuts. A new coach leading to a rebuilt swing were the chief reasons that he’d been struggling, however that was as good a sign as any that progress was bring made.

14^th on his next start in Prague provided further positivity and after another couple of blanks he recorded his best finish for over a year last week when scything his way through the field with a weekend 67/64 to finish up in 6^th position and really get the momentum flowing ahead of his return to the Netherlands.

The Montpellier man’s 2017 victory at The Dutch is still his one and only European Tour success, however when he’s swinging well he’s much more capable than that and Total Driving of 7^th, Ball Striking of 4^th and GIR of 5^th last week tells us that he’s back in the groove with his long game.

The green light for me though was that he ranked 6^th for putting last week – his best position on that stat for nearly 18 months – and that could spell imminent success as we saw his solitary win 2 years ago come immediately after a similar spike in putting form the week before. Result: MC

Another player who’s caught my eye recently is 2014 Ryder Cup star Jamie Donaldson. At his peak the Welshman was a solid top-50 OWGR player, reaching 23^rd in the world shortly after hitting the winning shot at Gleneagles, and looked to be going places having secured his PGA Tour with 3 European Tour titles in his back pocket. Fairytales are rare in golf though and a loss of form, a nasty chainsaw injury and then surgery on his wrist at the end of last year have curtailed his progress and he eventually dropped out of the world’s top 1,000 when he returned to action earlier this year.

He revealed in interview at the Scottish Open that he still hadn’t been 100% since his wrist operation and that he was still working through some swing tweaks, however the ongoing recovery and process changes appeared to be converging towards something positive as he opened with a 64 and sat in 5^th place after a Saturday 65, eventually finishing 9^th and hitting over 86% GIR over the 4 days. Further strides in Sweden where a Saturday 63 helped him along to a top-5 finish and he opened with 65 at Crans on his last start before dropping away, with some positive signs with his short game on a tough scrambling track.

Until he started on his downward spiral, Holland had always been a positive country for the 43 year-old. 4^th in 2003 and 5^th in 2009 at this event bode well and up until 2015 he boasted a 100% cuts made record at the KLM Open. With his game seemingly on the ascendancy once again, I can see him making the frame at a big price. Result: T27

As I stated in the preamble, I suspect that either metronomic types or short game wizards can both compete at The International and Ashley Chesters falls firmly into the first category which should help him keep out of the worst of the trouble here in Amsterdam and help him to hit as many greens as possible.

5^th for Driving Accuracy on the European Tour for the season to date and 19^th for GIR tells us everything we need to know about the Shrewsbury man’s and we’ve seen more evidence of his game’s strength over the past couple of weeks. A tailed-off 72^nd at Crans still saw the 30 year-old lead the field for Driving Accuracy and an improved GIR display last week in Germany saw his finishing position improve massively to 9^th place. What was really impressive in Hamburg though was that Ashley ranked 3^rd for Putting Average at 1.63 Putts Per GIR – his best recorded putting performance since he turned professional – and for a player like him that’s got to rank as significant.

Form in Holland reads 60/28 which, like last year’s winner Ashun Wu, isn’t likely to catch the eye at first glance. Again like Wu, if you scratch the surface though then you’ll find that he was 3^rd after day 1 last year and top-10 heading into the weekend. A different track this week, granted, however with his long game in typically strong form and his putter on fire (in relative terms!) then this track could present Chesters with his best chance yet of breaking through at European Tour level. Result: T15

The real work for Padraig Harrington begins next week at Wentworth when his year-long task of forming his 12-man Ryder Cup for next year’s trip to Whistling Straits begins. It’s been noticeable with Ryder Cup captains both sides of the pond in recent times that their tournament form drops off significantly as they focus on the job at hand, however with the pressure completely off this week I wouldn’t be remotely surprised to see a free-wheeling Harrington in contention in Amsterdam.

Back in the earlier days of his career, Holland was a fairly happy hunting ground for the Irishman, finishing 9^th and 3^rd at the Dutch Open in 2001 and 2002 and being in with a decent chance both times. The event fell off of his schedule as his career developed and his focus lay on the bigger events and overseas, however he reminded us once again last year that he’s well capable of competing with the younger men on the European Tour when he finished 5^th at the Dutch, which came nearly a year after he’d lifted the Portugal Masters trophy after an 8-year dry spell.

Back to the present day and the 48 year-old isn’t the most consistent – hence his price – missing his last 11 of 15 cuts globally, however there was enough of a spark last week when finishing 12^th in Hamburg to take a chance on him this week. We saw first hand with that Portugal Masters win that he should still be respected at this kind of grade, and with his all-round game in decent shape last week and all the focus coming from next week onwards, perhaps he can show everyone that he’s still competitive. Result: T15

Finally I’m going for a small punt on rank outsider Matthew Nixon. The Manchester man isn’t blessed with the power from off the tee like many of his peers, instead he relies on his normally accurate tee-to-green game to get him through. 2019 has been a struggle though and with no top-10 finishes recorded since last October he sits outside the top-200 in the Race to Dubai – with time starting to run out this season, his playing rights are very much on the line.

As ever, when push comes to shove, some players find something in their games that enable them to find that big result that makes all the difference to their rankings and, ultimately, their playing status. 58^th in Prague might not sound impressive, however a Friday 67 was amongst the best rounds of the day on a track that’s too long for him, putting him in the top-15 at the time before he dropped away. A weekend pair of 66s the following week in Sweden also hinted at more to come from the 30 year-old and despite missing the cut last week in Germany, his 2^nd round 68 was again one of the better recorded efforts on the day on another track that’s a little too long for his game.

The dimensions of The International here in Amsterdam should be much more to Nixon’s liking in an event where he’s recorded two top-20 finishes in his last 4 attempts. Perhaps the idea of him winning his maiden European Tour title here this week at a huge price is a little fanciful, however with additional places on offer and his requirement to perform well soon growing by the week, perhaps he can sneak an each-way place. Result: MC