It'll be a big week for the farmhands of Montana as Sir Nick Faldo departs his 125-acre ranch to host the Betfred British Masters where, along with the boost brought by a knight of the realm, there's a bumper prize fund on offer.
£3million is still quite a bit less than $20million mind you so it's to JUSTIN ROSE's credit that he chose to skip the Travelers Championship and freshen up for a summer back home, starting at the Belfry's Brabazon Course where he's firmly the man to beat.
Rose stumbled out of the blocks at the US Open last time but a second-round 68 confirmed his game remains in the sort of shape which had previously seen him string together a run of top-25s from the Masters through to the Canadian Open, where he was sent off 16/1 and Adrian Meronk could be backed at 50s.
My view is that this kind of PGA Tour form is still badly underestimated in the betting and as it was powered by quality iron play, very much the number one requirement this week, Rose must surely be the man to beat. He deserves to be priced as a strong favourite in a field which lacks star power, where Meronk is now just three points bigger in the betting.
Yes, Min Woo Lee is bang in-form and theoretically boasts a superior record at the course, but it's been built in a couple of ho-hum renewals of this event. By contrast, Rose was playing among the best in Europe back at the beginning of the century and his missed cuts are of no relevance. One of them came days after he'd won in Japan, another when he was wet behind the ears and searching for form.
Lee also has to fly in from Connecticut whereas Rose returned to England following the US Open and with in-form Meronk also playing for the fourth week in succession, Rose's edge extends beyond class, strike-rate and home advantage to a likely freshness edge over two of the four players who populate the top of the market.
The other is Jordan Smith, who continued to flush it as he outperformed Rose at Los Angeles Country Club, and he's my idea of the danger man. However, two wins in six years, one of them when gifted the title in Germany after Alex Levy missed a two-foot putt, is not a strike-rate which suggests 16/1 offers value given the three quality operators who are priced shorter still.
Of the quartet it's Rose who holds the aces and I'm not sure he's ever played in a weaker event on home soil. Winner of the British Masters in 2002 and a regular contender at Wentworth, this looks a massive opportunity to all but seal his Ryder Cup return and I'd expected him to be priced at close to the 6/1 mark.
Accordingly, we have to break ranks despite generous each-way terms and back him win-only to stamp his class on the tournament.
Donaldson has four top-10s in Switzerland where he continued to play well on his last visit in 2021, while he had every chance at Valderrama when 10th in 2020, was fourth there in 2017, and again played well last October to finish 28th, one of his best five finishes of the season.
Another of the five came here when he finished eighth, and that performance reads better still when you consider that he'd managed a best of 40th in seven starts dating back to Abu Dhabi in January. Out of nowhere, he found his game and it's remarkable how often he can still do that when playing either at home, or at a course he loves.
MacIntyre contended here when sent off favourite in 2021, eventually settling for eighth, and he'd have been in the mix again last year but for producing a rotten week with the putter which meant that he could only finish 36th despite a top-10 display from tee-to-green.
Having sided with him then I do want to give him another chance at a bigger price and that's partly because he left Germany content that he'd played better than he'd scored in finishing 18th, by some way his best effort yet in three visits to Munich.
MacIntyre told The Scotsman's Martin Dempster that in an important run, one which will determine his Ryder Cup prospects, and across this event, Denmark next week, the Scottish Open and the Open itself, he'll hope to do enough to achieve his long-held goal.
Prior to missing the cut by a single shot at a new course in the Scandinavian Mixed, it appeared as though The Bullet had begun to fire once more: from Italy to the European Open he went 9-28-29-22, his trademark approach play back on-song and the putter behaving itself for the most part.
Based on that form it's a surprise that he's priced up at three-figures here, having been seventh in 2020 and then sat second through 54 holes in 2022. Three back of the lead, Armitage closed within one after a birdie at the first, but thereafter limped home to finish 27th.
Ritchie has been far more prolific than Du Plessis back home and while he's struggling badly on the greens at the moment, that had been the case a year ago before he arrived here and ranked slightly above-average on his way to eighth place.
Further support and information can be found at and .