The European Tour begins its Canary Islands cruise at Meloneras Golf, where Rafael Cabrera Bello will be the nominal host for another new tournament. Born in Gran Canaria, this was a natural fit for the Spaniard, struggling to find form on the PGA Tour, and his name is a welcome one among a reasonable field which includes a couple of genuine Ryder Cup hopefuls.
Chief among them is Antoine Rozner, last seen bowing out of the Match Play despite a memorable victory over Bryson DeChambeau, but the likes of Matthias Schwab, Sam Horsfield, Andy Sullivan and even Cabrera Bello himself will be hoping to use this three-week stretch as a launchpad towards a golden summer, and all the autumn rewards that might bring.
For now it's still early days in spring, and it will feel like it on Gran Canaria, temperatures rising markedly from Austria where John Catlin beat a luckless Max Kieffer in Sunday's play-off. That was the just the latest in a string of memorable European Tour finishes, among which Rozner's 60-foot birdie putt to take the Qatar Masters might be the highlight — that is for these 'neutrals' I keep hearing about.
The first thing to say about this week's course is that it is remarkably short. Listed as a 6,503-yard par 70, it features five par-threes, not one of which stretches to 200 yards, and a trio of par-fives which will be reachable for everyone unless the wind howls. Built to welcome golfing tourists, Meloneras shouldn't pose any kind of threat to European Tour players, and birdies are very much the order of the day.
It's not that Cabrera Bello's course experience is expected to be decisive, because it isn't. Of course it's no bad thing that he's played here, finishing third in the Spanish PGA back in 2007, but we're talking 14-year-old form, difficult enough to put into context were it last week, and I suspect he's hardly been a regular visitor in the intervening years.
To me it's that the difference between trying to grind your way into form on the PGA Tour, where even weak fields include some of the very best players in the sport, and competing at this level, is vastly underestimated. That might be particularly true for a relaxed, some would say timid character like Cabrera Bello, who I dare say has at times questioned whether he has what it takes to win out there.
Look at Robert MacIntyre's form right now. Generally speaking, the view is that he's done well out in the US, and there was certainly a lot to like about his 12th at the Masters. Nevertheless, in his five stroke play starts that's his sole top-20 finish. Again last week, at the RBC Heritage, he found out just how tough it is, playing well enough for the most part but finishing poorly and winding up 59th, his world ranking falling two spots as a result.
Like Cabrera Bello, Sullivan played Ryder Cup golf five years ago but it took until Hanbury Manor, and that dazzling victory in the sun, for him to finally return to winning ways for the first time since. He was in a league of his own over the weekend there, winning by seven, and could've gone in again but for having his pocket picked by Rozner in Dubai later in the year.
Given his previous nine-shot victory in Portugal, where he ought to have defended his title, it should've surprised nobody that Sullivan needed these shootouts, the first on a short course, to showcase what he does best: find the fairway, fire approaches tight and, when the putter behaves, make a heap of birdies.
Here, with wedge in hand, he can demonstrate just why he led the European Tour in strokes-gained approach last season, which in turn powered his exceptional birdie average stats — the best among this field. In doing so he could well climb back into the world's top 50, and add a US Open invite to the one on its way from the PGA of America.
Horsfield could so easily have won for the third time in a dozen starts when third in Kenya four weeks ago, bogeying the last hole to miss a play-off by one, and three of these events were played with a back injury he picked up in Cyprus and which forced him to miss the lucrative events which kickstarted 2021 on the European Tour.
We saw with Catlin on Sunday how valuable recent winning experience can be and now he's healthy again, Horsfield has appeared determined to underline his status as one of the hottest prospects on the circuit, finishing eighth, third and 15th in his three starts this year, latterly under cold and fairly miserable conditions in Austria.
Despite being born in Manchester, Horsfield's golfing education was undertaken in Florida and ever since dominating Qualifying School here in Spain, he's shown that he's at his best with short sleeves on and birdies flying. We can mark up last week's share of 15th as a result, and this resort-style course should prove much more to his liking, especially if he is able to be more aggressive off the tee which is not the case at Diamond Country Club.
Here's another with form in the Portugal Masters, Veerman impressing everyone on his way to a top-10 finish there last October, and he's since gone on to take fourth in the Cyprus Showdown and contend for the Kenya Open, two more low-scoring events in warm weather.
Perhaps he saw what was coming and elected not to go to Austria, but whatever the case he should relish conditions in Spain, where he came through Qualifying School courtesy of a remarkable performance at the back-end of 2019. Veerman sat near last after two rounds but played by far the best golf in the field thereafter, enough to earn his European Tour card, and it's clearly the thing he's most proud of so far in his career.
It was hard not to be impressed with the quality of Mansell's approach play at times last week, as he sat sixth after round one and fifth at halfway before a difficult weekend. That can be excused on just his third start of 2021, and he's certainly one to watch at this kind of level as a player I really do like with the future in mind.
Last year, he defied a very slow start to finish second in the Challenge de Espana while battling it out for Road to Mallorca honours, which were cruelly taken beyond his grasp as he missed the next event due to Covid-19. Still, that and an excellent start to the Challenge Tour Grand Final, also in Spain, hint that he might just be capable of contending again now back there.
"I’m quite looking forward to having three weeks in a row, hopefully with some sunshine," is a quote which could apply right now, but in fact came in the days before that runner-up finish in Cadiz. Six months down the line, perhaps it's too soon to expect him to win on the European Tour, but already he's had a taste of contending and there's no telling how far he could go.
With low-scoring conditions likely in his favour and at a course where all bar a couple of the Spaniards have no past experience, the 25-year-old is worth chancing at a big price.
Posted at 1930 BST on 19/04/21
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