The final run of three European Tour Rolex Series events begins this week with the Turkish Airlines Open. Thorbjorn Olesen is defending champion at Regnum Carya.
With just three events left in the 2017 Race to Dubai, Tommy Fleetwood leads the way in the standings heading into the Turkish Airlines Open. The Englishman is 865,000 points ahead of Masters champion Sergio Garcia. Justin Rose is up to third place after his WGC HSBC Champions victory, with Jon Rahm fourth and Tyrrell Hatton fifth. Neither of the Spaniards in the top-five will tee it up in Turkey so both Rose and Hatton will be looking for a good performance to push further up the standings.
This tournament was first contested in 2013 when Victor Dubuisson was champion. Brooks Koepka was triumphant the following year before Dubuisson secured an emotional second victory in 2015. Last season, Thorbjorn Olesen came out on top at Regnum Carya. The Dane held off a charging David Horsey to take his fourth European Tour title. Olesen will be looking to become the first person to successfully defend the Turkish Airlines Open.
Thorbjorn Olesen swing sequence:
The field for this event comprises the top-70 available players on the Race to Dubai rankings, together with five tournament invites and three Turkish players. A strong field has assembled and, aside from Fleetwood, Rose and Hatton, many of the European Tour’s best will be seeking glory in the Turkish Airlines Open. Henrik Stenson is on the start sheet along with Thomas Pieters, Paul Dunne and Lee Westwood.
Designed by Thomson, Perrett & Lobb, the heathland inspired course at Carya presents an aesthetically pleasing and immaculately presented test of golf. The course features heathers and detailed bunkering to give that heathland feel.
The weather forecast for the week looks fairly settled with fine weather in the main, although it could rain on the Saturday.
Venue: Regnum Carya Golf & Spa Resort, Antalya, Turkey
Date: Nov 2-5
Course stats: par 71, 7,186 yards
Purse: $7,000,000
Defending champion: Thorbjorn Olesen (-20)
TV Coverage:
Thursday 2 – Sky Sports Golf from 9am
Friday 3 – Sky Sports Golf from 9am
Saturday 4 – Sky Sports Golf from 9am
Sunday 5 – Sky Sports Golf from 8.30am
Player Watch:
Henrik Stenson – He was joint runner-up to Justin Rose in last week’s HSBC Champions tournament and he always seems to find his best game in the run towards the climax of the Race to Dubai. He was third in this event back in 2014 and the course should suit his game.
Tyrrell Hatton – The Englishman has been on a tremendous run of form in recent weeks. Twice a winner in Scotland and then Italy, he was tied for 11th in the WGC HSBC Champions. He was also tied 10th in this event last year so he must start as one of the favourites.
Matt Fitzpatrick – Since winning the Omega European Masters in September, Fitzpatrick hasn’t finished outside the top-15 in a European Tour event. He’ll be pushing for a big result to move up from 13th into the top-10 on the Race to Dubai standings. With a $7,000,000 purse on offer in this event, that is a distinct possibility.
Key Hole: 15th. A great risk/reward par-5 that should be reachable for most of the players in the field. But with water short and left of the green, an inaccurate approach could end up wet. This one should produce eagles and the odd disaster too.
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