Green Eagle models itself as one of the best, most pristine golf resorts in Europe, and its North Course is certainly made to host a professional tournament. Stretching beyond 7,600 yards and with five par-fives, it's less eagle, more monster, and always provides a difficult test. Prior to last year's 54-hole renewal, winning scores had been 13-, 11- and 14-under, proof that despite that quintet of par-fives, scoring opportunities are limited.
Marcus Armitage is the defending champion and he very much fits the mould of two of the previous three winners, namely Jordan Smith and Paul Casey. All three of these are what you might term absolute flushers, the type of golfer who is always a good week with the putter away from going close. Armitage found his, and with it a first DP World Tour title. Smith likewise, though the main factor was a helping hand from Alex Levy.
But then there's Richard McEvoy, who famously saw off a slimline Bryson DeChambeau plus Patrick Reed and a host of other challengers for his first and only win at this level four years ago. McEvoy is among the shortest hitters on the circuit and wore the face out of his hybrids that week, a performance reminiscent of Christian Cevaer when he won this very title at the London Club in 2009, despite giving 50 yards to runner-up Alvaro Quiros off every tee.
Was McEvoy just another anomaly? Yes, to some degree, and by no means would I begin the search with those who plot their way round. But there's also something to be learned from his win: five par-fives are all well and good, but when several of them cannot be reached in two by anyone, suddenly they become wedge contests. McEvoy led the field in par-five scoring and he certainly didn't do that by lining up a succession of eagle opportunities.
This is simply a course where you have to grind, you have to manage your game, and you have to avoid disaster. It is a stark contrast to Bernardus last week, where players could reach for driver upon driver without dwelling too much upon the dangers of hyper-aggression, and the main threat was weather-related. We don't have the strokes-gained data which I'm sure would reveal McEvoy made a lot of putts, but we do know he ranked sixth in fairways, eighth in greens and eighth in scrambling. An unrelenting test of execution awaits.
That should be ideal for Tommy Fleetwood, who is playing nicely again and looks to have his approach play back where he needs it. Fleetwood came back from the PGA Tour last autumn to finish runner-up in Italy and hasn't missed a cut on the DP World Tour since defending his Open de France title in 2018, so he could be difficult to keep out of the frame if none the worse for a weekend in the Texas winds which may even prove beneficial.
Crocker isn't a model of consistency and his professional career has met several interruptions because of injuries, but at his best he's one of the very best ball-strikers on the DP World Tour. That was in evidence here last year when he ranked first in strokes-gained off-the-tee, 10th with his approaches and as a result second in strokes-gained tee-to-green, finishing 11th despite putting badly in a 54-hole sprint.
Back in 2017 he also demonstrated a fondness for Green Eagle, when sitting inside the top 20 following each of the first three rounds before fading to 33rd on Sunday. That was just his third tour-level event and Crocker was still a couple of months away from turning professional, so it was a mighty effort in the circumstances.
Without question, given the history of this event and Crocker's own performances here, Green Eagle is a good course – and it's now clear the European Open comes at a good time. Crocker's approach play finally returned to its usual standards in the Soudal Open, a course upon which he can't hit many drivers, and after that he headed to Texas where he finished tied-first in a strong US Open qualifier, earning him a trip to Brookline in two weeks.
Nemecz hails from Austria so there will be something familiar about this environment, and he was runner-up in Germany on the Challenge Tour last year. Opportunities at this level have been limited, but he's two-from-two in terms of cuts made and looks another who is capable of raising his game.
Nemecz ranks inside the top 20 for approach play as well as in strokes-gained tee-to-green and all he needs is a good putting week to contend. We know that, because he's had one of them so far this year and finished third in the Ras al Khaimah Championship won by big-hitting Nicolas Hojgaard.
Difficult, parkland layouts are definitely best for this supreme ball-striker, as we saw when he won at Celtic Manor in 2020. He was the best player in the field over the final 54 holes of the British Masters at the Belfry two starts ago, and last week at Bernardus drove the ball beautifully under conditions which probably aren't ideal despite his Amateur Championship win.
The biggest worry is that Langasque's form here reads MC-MC, but that's certainly helping with the price and isn't worth dwelling on. The first came in 2017, his rookie year and one in which he missed 17 cuts in 28 events. The second came last summer, when his five starts on European soil had failed to produce anything better than 45th as his long-game continued to misfire.
Langasque ranks inside the top 20 in strokes-gained tee-to-green this season and it's only his propensity to shoot himself in the foot which keeps him from fulfilling his potential. At least here we can take a big price relative to his ball-striking ability and as touched upon, my view is that he's considerably better suited to this course than his record so far might suggest.
Posted at 1600 BST on 30/05/22
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