BlogTurkish Open Preview and Picks

The Buzz:

Frankly the buzz is the players that aren’t in the field, Henrik Stenson, Rory McIlroy, Alex Noren, Louis Oosthuizen, Chris Wood and Branden Grace to name six of the top-ten off the Race to Dubai list.  So this may be the start of the Final Series, which has been reduced this year from four to three events.  Of course there is reason for those players not showing up, most of them cited the recent conflicts and bombings in Turkey so you can’t really blame them.

Rumor had it that the European Tour was on the verge of cancelling the event last week after an explosion in a park car just down the street from the course was the reason for many of the withdrawals.  Even American Patrick Reed, who is trying to work his way up the Race to Dubai money list also was a last minute withdrawal following advise given to him from the US State Department.

But in the state of things like this it just creates opportunity for others as the list of players off the Race to Dubai list went down to 102nd instead of just the top-70.  So with only three top-ten players in the field Danny Willett, Tyrell Hatton and Lee Westwood if they were to win this week it would give them a very big lead going to South Africa for the second leg of the playoffs.

The shame of all this is the event has one of the bigger purses on the European Tour and in reality it doesn’t give much credibility to the Race to Dubai.

So for fantasy players this presents some opportunities to find some players off the beaten path.  Adding to the mystery is the fact that they are playing on a new course so nobody has any kind of advantage, poor Victor Dubuisson who won twice at nearby Maxx Royal resort is just wishing they didn’t change the course.

Now the Carya Golf Club held a European Tour Challenge Tour event on it in 2010 and we can see one player who are in the field this week did well in that event six and a half years ago.  Bernd Wiesberger finished T-8th and it could of been better if he didn’t finish with a 73.

The course is close to the Mediterranean and with it has a splash of links golf with naturally cultivated heather and rolling fairways on sand dunes.  According to the club the course winds between natural pine and eucalyptus trees, and across undulating sand ridges, with white sand bunkers keeping players on their toes, and testing their ability to play a smarter game of golf. The mixture of terrains and hazards that players face as they complete their round will help to make for some truly unforgettable golfing experiences.

What I find interesting of the course it’s the first lighted golf course in Europe and many play the course at night.  The course is long and water comes in play on seven of the holes and in talking with those that have played the course they say that long hitters will have the advantage.

Here are some of the secrets of what it takes to play well at the Turkish Airlines Open:

Key stat for the winner:

Having to learn a new course and adapting to it.

Here are some more key stats to look to for this week:

Best to look at the field and see how they are playing, look for those that have done well the last couple of weeks.  Players like Padraig Harrington and Tyrrell Hatton have won in the last four weeks.  Also playing well is Bernd Wiesberger, Tommy Fleetwood and Andy Sullivan