With the DP World Tour taking its mid-summer break, much to the supposed aggravation of some who are totally unaffected by it, several firms have stepped up to offer Challenge Tour prices nice and early this week. The power of Niall Horan, whose Modest! Golf Management hosts the British Challenge, knows no bounds.
Back on the schedule in 2021, this event moved to St Mellion last October where Euan Walker birdied the last two holes to win on a tough and dramatic Sunday. October conditions played their part but this course is straightforwardly difficult, fairways being so hard to hit and the punishment for missing them quite severe. There's very little given away cheaply and that final round threw up just a single eagle.
Early leader Steven Tiley spoke about how well suited he was to this Jack Nicklaus design because of how straight he hits it, and the fact that very often players were forced to lay-up to the same spots on par-fives.
Jarvis is in fact the leader on the Road to Mallorca having been the first player to pass a thousand points, which should mean he's a shoo-in for DP World Tour status next season.
This young South African is a massive talent, that much is clear, and while you'd think a lack of experience might be a handicap around these quirkier courses, he spoke about his clear plan of attack at Adamstal, which was all about strategy off the tee. He'll look to employ something similar here.
Seven top-six finishes including a win from his last 30 or so Challenge Tour starts underline that Roussel is a class act at this level, something we've seen again recently with fifth place in Italy, fourth at Adamstal, and then a decent effort last week when he felt his putter was ice cold.
That club is often a strength and Roussel is an accurate driver, ranking 36th for fairways hit on the DP World Tour last year. Up at that level he wasn't far off the top 10 when Paratore won at Close House, while he has some Nicklaus form courtesy of 26th at Hanbury Manor, too.
His win back in 2019 came during a hot run of form, similar to that which he's produced lately, and his performance at Adamstal offers real encouragement that he'll take to St Mellion at the first time of asking. There aren't many players in the field with positive memories of the course, almost none who know it really well, and he looks a good fit.
One man who has been here practising recently is Rhys Enoch, who is based in Cornwall. But for a double-bogey at the 18th hole on Sunday he'd have finished second, but while he does know this course well – he was runner-up in an amateur event behind Sam Hutsby some 15 years ago – Enoch is a powerful driver who might not be all that well suited to it despite a Nicklaus win in Slovakia.
Hutsby is a better course fit but at a bigger price I'm inclined to chance DAVE HORSEY, who comes here looking to prepare himself for the return of the DP World Tour in a fortnight.
Horsey has largely struggled this year, missing the cut in seven of his eight starts while battling neck issues, but he's taken time out to remedy the latter and it's notable that his best effort came in the Soudal Open, won by Forsstrom. He played well there last year too and it makes sense as he's always been about accuracy from the tee, ranking 25th last season and 13th in 2021.
While the form book shows only big numbers in four starts since, one of those was the US Open, another at the massive Green Eagle, so he's not necessarily had opportunities under his conditions. When he did, in a US Open qualifier at Walton Heath, he shot rounds of 70 and 65 to finish second, suggesting his game isn't totally lost.
Go back through his form book and you'll see plenty of good Nicklaus form, too. He won in Russia at Tseleevo, was seventh at Gut Larchenhof, 13th at London GC and 14th at Gleneagles, and the first-named in particular was always a good layout for the straightest hitters around.
That's certainly true of St Mellion so while this is a bit of a fact-finding mission for Horsey, he surely wouldn't be here were his neck a big worry. Dropping to Challenge Tour level for the first time since topping the standings in 2008, I think bookmakers are taking a bit of a chance around here with three-figure prices.
Young Finnish players Matias Honkala and Oliver Lindell both have a fondness for Adamstal and are interesting. The former is in better shape generally, but Lindell was 30th here when out of sorts last October and, having missed the cut by one last week, caught the eye. Six-over early on on Ireland, he was six-under over the final 30 or so holes and doesn't look far away.
Experience is generally preferred however and JONATHAN CALDWELL, a former EuroPro regular with winning form in England, might be able to put his to use.
Caldwell won in Sweden for us a couple of summers ago at a course where straight hitting was vital, and after a slow start to his Challenge Tour campaign he found conditions to his liking once more when leading through 54 holes at Vaudreuil.
Though fading there, he was a good 26th in Italy a week later, missed the cut under really tough conditions in Germany, then played solidly in Ireland last week to hang around inside the top 10 following a second-round 66.
Three top-sixes and nine missed cuts make up his last dozen starts, although like Horsey there's also some hidden qualifying form as he wasn't far behind last week's winner Brandon Robinson Thompson when sealing a place in the Open.
At 16th in driving accuracy and ninth in scrambling on the DP World Tour last year, Farr has the right formula for this course and he knows it better than some, having also taken part in that amateur event won by Hutsby many moons ago.
He's played well enough in two appearances at Mount Juliet to provide some Nicklaus form and has a couple of top-10s in England on the main circuit, while it should be noted that he's won three Challenge Tour events from around a hundred starts and typically when conditions were tough.
Farr could bomb out but he started well enough last week and this time last year put together a really strong run of form at a higher level than this. He's well worth the risk.
RICHARD MCEVOY is about as straight as they come off the tee and he was fifth in France, behind Fichardt and Farr and alongside St Mellion winner, Walker.
Since then he's gone MC-MC-39, but the first of the three was in Denmark on the DP World Tour where, for the second time running, his approach play was of a very decent standard.
Hamstrung by his lack of power at that level, McEvoy might not be down in grade at this particular course and while 39th in Ireland was not spectacular, Friday's 63 certainly was and suggests he remains in the sort of form that saw him hit the frame at Vaudreuil.
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