D+D Real Czech Masters:
After three weeks off following the British Open and Olympic Games, the DP World Tour is back this week in Prague for the D+D Real Czech Masters.
Tom McKibbin, who has six top-10s on the DPWT this season, is the tournament favorite at 16-1.
Bernd Wiesberger has been consistent in his full-time return to the DPWT, making 11 of 13 cuts, including two top-10s. He shares a 22-1 tag along with Matthew Jordan, who is off a top-10 in the British Open at Royal Troon, and Richard Mansell, who posted a top-10 at the Scottish Open the week prior.
At 25-1 are Ewen Ferguson, a winner six weeks ago at the BMW International Open, and Ryo Hisatsune, who finished T-3 at the Wyndham Championship last week.
Jordan Smith was the runner-up to Ferguson at the BMW International Open. He is priced at 28-1 along with Niklas Norgaard, who already has a runner-up (Soudal Open) and a T-4 (European Open) this summer.
The Course
The Czech Masters spent the last nine years at the Albatross course to the southwest of Prague but now moves a few miles east to the PGA National Oaks.
The Albatross was a long par-72 that played almost 7,500 yards from its tips, and the Oaks course is slightly longer at 7,592 yards for a par-72.
The Kyle Phillips design was completed in 2020, featuring a mix of loosely tree-lined holes alongside more exposed ones.
Phillips courses tend to either be modern links or have linksy features with plenty of bunkers along with long fescue rough and players hitting into large Bentgrass greens.
Phillips designs have been featured throughout the DP World Tour schedule, most notably Kingsbarns, which is featured each year at the Alfred Dunhill Links. Other designs include Bernardus Golf and Hilversumche over the years in the Netherlands, Dundonald Links (2017 Scottish Open), Verdura (2017 and 2018 Sicilian Open) and Yas Links (2023 Abu Dhabi Championship).
Here is the scorecard for PGA National Oaks courtesy of the DP World Tour:
A hole-by-hole preview is here.
Recent History/Winners
2023: Todd Clements (-22/266); 400-1
2022: Maximilian Kieffer (-16/200); 55-1*
2021: Johannes Veerman (-15/273); 25-1
2020: No Tournament due to COVID-19
2019: Thomas Pieters (-19/269); 20-1
2018: Andrea Pavan (-22/266); 50-1
2017: Haydn Porteous (-13/275); 60-1
2016: Paul Peterson (-15/273); 250-1
2015: Thomas Pieters (-20/268); 80-1
2014: Jamie Donaldson (-14/274); 12-1
Event shortened to 54 holes – *
Note that all the above events were played at nearby Albatross Golf Club.
Selections
Matthew Jordan (22-1, BetMGM)
Jordan earned a top-10 finish in the British Open for the second straight year.
He has been consistent all season with three top-5 and six top-10 finishes.
The all-around game has been excellent, ranking 11th for SG Off the Tee, 18th for SG Approach, 10th for SG Tee to Green and 15th for Greens In Regulation.
Sami Välimäki (40-1, BetMGM)
The man from Finland played exclusively on the PGA Tour this season and ended up just inside the Top 100 on the FedEx Cup Points list (largely due to a runner-up at the Mexico Open) and will have a chance to improve his position for the FedEx Cup Fall.
Välimäki won in the Czech Republic on the ProGolf Tour and finished T-4 in this event last year. He also has good results on Phillips designs (10th at Yas Links, 10th at Valderrama which Phillips restored, and T-6 in the Alfred Dunhill Links last year).
This could be the drop in class that he needs for his next victory.
Yannik Paul (40-1, Caesars Sportsbook)
Paul ranks eighth on the DP World Tour for Greens In Regulation and 20th for Strokes Gained: Approach.
The German has four top-11 finishes this season and was top-10 at Albatross last year.
Joe Dean (66-1, Bet Rivers)
Dean has two runner-up finishes (Magical Kenya Open and KLM Open in the Netherlands), a top-5 in Belgium and a top-25 at the British Open last month.
Earlier this year, he was still working as a delivery driver for UK-based grocery chain Morrisons to help fund the pricier flights for various DP World Tour events. He no longer has to do so and can focus on earning his first DP World Tour victory.
Rafael Cabrera-Bello (150-1, FanDuel)
It has been a precipitous fall for Cabrera-Bello, who was a top-20-ranked player back in 2017.
He has missed 11 of 18 cuts this year and has just one top-10 finish in 2024.
However, this long shot is worth a stab considering his past success on Phillips designs. He won at Dundonald in 2017 and finished runner-up at Yas Links in 2022.
