European Tour leaves Asia for Spain
IN: News | European PGA | Open de Espana (2006) | Preview | by Bruce Young | 26 Apr 2006
The European Tour is now only two events away from reaching Great Britain for the first time in 2006, but it has two events to play in Spain and Italy before doing so.
The Andalucia Open de Espana Valle Romano (Spanish Open) is first on the list and will be played at the San Roque Golf Club in South West Spain. The layout is a collaboration between American Perry Dye and Spanish golfing legend Seve Ballesteros. The event is being played here for the second time although many this week will be familiar with the surrounds as it has often staged the European Tour School final. It will be a new layout in 2006 however with the so called "New Course" in play for the first time.
Miguel Angel Jimenez's disappointing finish in Shanghai last week, when he was the favourite for the BMW Asian Open, was a surprise but his 11th place finish at Augusta two weeks earlier is perhaps a better indication of his standing in this field. He did not play here last year but has been a prolific winner in his homeland and he will likely be in the picture on Sunday.
Colin Montgomerie has had a horror start to 2006 but last week in Shanghai he was third, indicating that better things are ahead. He did not play here in 2005 but has often played well on Spanish courses. The question is whether his effort in Shanghai was but a fleeting moment, or the start of the sort of form which saw him dominate the European Tour in 2005. He is the only player from the world's top thirty (18th) playing this week.
Thomas Bjorn has played solidly in 2006 but has not been near his best for some time. At his peak he could beat this field but he might need to dig deep to do so this week.
Ricardo Gonzalez played beautifully earlier in the year but his form has dropped off in recent weeks. It has been nearly a month since his last outing in Portugal when he finished fourth.
Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano is one of the brightest prospects in European golf and after a second placing in Beijing and an impressive win last week in Shanghai, he arrives at this event as the in-form player. He might struggle with the expectation of being arguably Spain's brightest prospect since Garcia, but he appears more than capable of handling such a reputation.
Like Fernandez-Castano, Niclas Fasth has not played a lot in recent times but he enjoyed good form earlier in the season. He is back, refreshed, after a holiday with his family and is no doubt ready to go.
There are just a few Australasians playing this week with most of those who play the European Tour taking a break between the completion of the Asian co-sanctioned events and the start of the big name events in the coming weeks.
David Bransdon did well last week in Shanghai and, along with Peter Fowler, Matthew Millar and Stephen Scahill, represents the Australasian interests this week.
