Betfred British Masters:
Frenchmen have won in back-to-back weeks on the DP World Tour as Frédéric Lacroix, at a pre-tournament price of around 33-1, earned his maiden victory at the Danish Golf Championship by four strokes over fellow Frenchman Romain Langasque and Lucas Bjerregaard.
This week, the DP World Tour heads to Warwickshire, England, for the Betfred British Masters.
Tyrrell Hatton (+750) returns to the DP World Tour with a week off from LIV to be this week’s favorite at The Belfry.
Matt Wallace (22-1) was the runner-up when this event was held at Hillside in 2019.
Tom McKibbin (22-1), Rasmus Højgaard (25-1), Thriston Lawrence (25-1), who won last week on the Sunshine Tour in his native South Africa, 2022 British Masters winner Thorbjørn Olesen (28-1) and Lacroix (33-1) follow in the market.
Daniel Hillier (120-1) is the defending champion at The Belfry.
The Course
The Brabazon Course at The Belfry plays host this week. The Belfry has won several awards, including the World’s Best Golf Hotel at the 2019 World Golf Awards. It has hosted more Ryder Cups than any other venue (1985, 1989, 1993 and 2002). It has also been the stage for several European Tour events, including the British Masters and the Benson & Hedges International Open but hosted its first European Tour event since 2008 in 2020 for the ISPS Handa UK Championship, a one-time event created because of COVID-19.
There are three courses on the property, but the Brabazon, designed by Peter Alliss in 1977 and redesigned by Dave Thomas in 1990, will be the course this week. The Belfry is a parklands layout with water in play on half of the holes. The track measures 7,336 yards and is a par-72. It is unique in that there are 12 par-4s instead of the more typical 10, which means there are just three par-3s and three par-5s. The rye and meadowgrass fairways are narrower than average and the rough is a mix of ryegrass, fescue and meadowgrass with about 1.5 inches in the first cut and three inches in the second cut. The greens are Bentgrass/Poa Annua and roll around 10-10.5 on the stimpmeter.
Here is a flyover of The Belfry courtesy of European Golf Tech.
British Masters Recent History
2023: Daniel Hillier (-10/278); The Belfry; 90-1
2022: Thorbjorn Olesen (-10/278); The Belfry; 75-1
2021: Richard Bland (-13/275); The Belfry; 150-1*
2020: Renato Paratore (-18/266); Close House; 50-1
2019: Marcus Kinhult (-16/272); Hillside; 175-1
2018: Eddie Pepperell (-9/279); Walton Heath; 30-1
2017: Paul Dunne (-20/260); Close House; 66-1
2016: Alex Noren (-18/266); The Grove; 18-1
2015: Matthew Fitzpatrick (-15/269); Woburn; 33-1
​Playoff victory over Guido Migliozzi – *
Selections
Andy Sullivan (40-1, BetMGM)
Sullivan has finished in the top 10 at the Belfry in two of his last four appearances and top 15 in three of his last four.
He finished runner-up three weeks ago in the Asian Tour’s International Series event at Foxhills in Surrey.
Yannik Paul (45-1, FanDuel)
Paul was third here in 2021 and eighth last year.
The German ranks sixth for Greens In Regulation, and The Belfry typically favors good ball strikers.
Harry Hall (60-1, Bet365)
Englishman Harry Hall won his first PGA Tour event earlier this summer at the ISCO Championship.
He currently ranks second on the PGA Tour this year in Strokes Gained: Around The Green and should relish this test in a drop in class from playing against PGA Tour competition all year.
Calum Hill (66-1, Bet365)
Scotsman Calum Hill’s runner-up earlier this summer at the Scandinavian Mixed is his only top-10 this year, so the incoming form is not great, plus he has not played since early July at the Scottish Open.
However, he has finished fourth, eighth and ninth in his last three appearances, so he appears to be a horse for the course.
Shubhankar Sharma (66-1, BetMGM)
Sharma has made each of his last 10 cuts in a row, including a fifth at the Italian Open and a top-20 in the British Open at Royal Troon.
He ranks ninth on the DP World Tour for Strokes Gained: Putting, so the slow greens should fit nicely.
Joe Dean (70-1, FanDuel)
Dean was tipped in this column last week and he ended up finishing fifth in Denmark for his fourth top-5 of the season.
The Englishman ranks sixth on the DP World Tour for Strokes Gained: Putting and has been a fixture on DPWT leaderboards all year.
