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It's decidedly low-key stuff on the European Tour this week as Alvaro Quiros defends his title in the Rocco Forte Open, played at the beautiful Verdura resort on the Sicilian coastline.

With the back-nine running alongside the Mediterranean Ocean, there will be much to admire away from the golf itself which, as was the case a year ago, may get fairly nasty as the pressure mounts coming home.

Back then, Quiros built on the faintest hint of encouragement he'd shown one week earlier on the Challenge Tour to win for the first time since 2011, but he had to survive a nightmarish back-nine and a play-off with Zander Lombard before securing a hugely popular success.

With Quiros first, Lombard second and Hao-tong Li third, there was a big-hitting feel to the podium and that was also the case the only previous time the European Tour came to Verdura, when Thorbjorn Olesen fended off Chris Wood with Nicolas Colsaerts tucked in behind.

It's not that driver is all that big a weapon on this exposed and dramatic par 71, more than players like Quiros and Lombard were able to hit bullet two-irons into the wind during the course of a difficult weekend. One way or another, power was a massive plus and that's a good starting point.

At the head of the betting are two quality operators in Andy Sullivan and Olesen, and it would be no surprise were either to win. Sullivan has been threatening to do so at a fairly low level all year, while Olesen is prolific compared to these, obviously enjoyed his first visit here and has looked in good shape but for a troublesome putter over the last few weeks.

Of the two, Olesen looks much the best bet having also gone very close to winning the Italian Open in the past, but I'd rather take a chance on friend, compatriot and GolfSixes team-mate, Lucas Bjerregaard.

Last year's Portugal Masters winner has struggled since, but much has changed in his life having become a parent over Christmas and had to adjust to graduating to the winners category on the European Tour.

The nappy factor can work both ways or not at all - some new parents find themselves at greater ease on the golf course, others struggle to find balance, there are those who appear totally unaffected - but for 26-year-old Bjerregaard, prone to shocking swings in form, it appears that his game has suffered.

However, his second start back from a near two-month break resulted in a massive weekend at the China Open, as he climbed from 58th to sixth courtesy of rounds of 66 and 64, and it's quite possible that it acts as a catalyst over the coming weeks.

Bjerregaard was third in the Italian Open three years ago, a performance which came out of nowhere, and he followed it with fifth place next time. In 2014, he sprang to life with a top-five in Hong Kong and found another on his next start in Perth and his win last year was on the back of a top-10 finish - his first in months. There's evidence, then, that China may not be a one-off.

That third place in Milan, where he contended all week, serves as evidence that a return to Italy rates a positive and he could very well do what Olesen did and win in this lower-grade event, where his power off the tee is an undoubted asset.

Olesen and Bjerregaard surrendered their GolfSixes title fairly tamely in the end, but they would've made the knockout rounds had Olesen holed a short putt in regulation and in terms of a form guide, it's of very limited value.

That may not be the case with the China Open, which produced a strong leaderboard, and it may be that Bjerregaard emulates Quiros for a second time, both having won the Portugal Masters.

Pedro Oriol is another of the most powerful players in this field and there are a number of reasons to expect him to play well.

First and foremost, Oriol has finished eighth, 39th and 29th in his last three starts, form which at this lowly level reads very well, and through those efforts he's been seventh, 39th and fifth for greens and always inside the top 10 in driving distance.

That suggests the long-game is in good shape and returning to Italy is a positive, as he was third, just behind Bjerregaard, at the halfway stage of the 2015 Italian Open when last playing European Tour golf here here - one of the few instances of contending at this level.

Although it's taken a while for him to begin to show what he can do, Oriol enjoyed the best season of his life in 2017, winning the Rolex Trophy in a play-off, and six cuts made in seven is a very good return now back on the big tour.

Like Bjerregaard, he makes his debut at this course but it should suit and the timing is ideal, as he could just take a little extra inspiration not just from the victory of Quiros, but from Seve Ballasteros, who died seven years ago this week.

Oriol wears the Seve logo on his visor and would be a fitting winner of an event which looks to play to his strengths.