British Masters Each-Way Tips: 30/1 Ewen Ferguson a neat fit

• Scot Ewen Ferguson can improve on last year's fourth place

• England's Harry Hall can win again

• Yannik Paul has a fine course record

I'm always intrigued by a paradox when the DP World Tour rocks up the The Belfry.

Because when old photos of the likes of Wentworth and Sunningdale emerge hard-line course design experts will unfavourably compare and contrast then and now.

The gist is that the likes of the great Harry Colt created open layouts that have since been cursed by owners and greenkeepers planting too many trees.

Yet when old photos and film footage of the Brabazon Course at The Belfry are dragged out everyone denigrates those early years as resembling a terrible old farmer's field with no definition and the present - with lots of trees and plant life - is taken to be a vast improvement.

There's a disconnect there that I can't quite come to terms with and my interest is not of the furious keyboard-bashing kind. I'd just really like to know if there is a difference between these two evolutions.

Because I suspect Dave Thomas and Peter Alliss, who were responsible for the design of the Brabazon Course, always wanted it to mature into a tree-lined parkland, rather than empty field, test.

So did Harry Colt and the other golden age architects never foresee the trend for tree-lined fairways? Were they hoping to recreate linksland openness and their designs have been blighted by trendy woodland?

I suspect that's the answer but if you know your stuff feel free to let me know on Twitter/X @MattCooperGolf. I'm genuinely curious!

Anyhow, that's a pretty long-winded way of introducing this week's venue which, whatever you think of it (and I rather like the place), is a field of dreams of sorts even if you need to be in your 40s to have any genuine memories of the course as a Ryder Cup host.

Yes, it's 22 years since Philip Price's glorious fist-pumping, nose-snorting response to holing a long putt at 16 during his defeat of Phil Mickelson in the 2022 match.

And it is a mind-boggling 39 years since the European team revitalised the Ryder Cup with victory in the 1985 clash.

As already noted, back then it resembled the back gardens on a new-build housing estate dotted with insubstantial saplings and grass so lacking in density you can practically count the blades.

Now the trees need cutting back and the colour of the fairways and greens would feature at the darker end of a Farrow & Ball colour chart.

Main Bet: Ewen Ferguson 1pt each-way @ 30/1

If last year's winner, New Zealand's Daniel Hillier, was something of a surprise it did make sense that he'd played well on British and Irish parkland tracks before his triumph at The Belfry, when recording top three finishes at Galgorm Castle and Eichenried.

Scotland's Ewen Ferguson has always impressed in similar locations and in those two spots in particular he can trump Hillier with wins.

He landed his win at Galgorm Castle in the 2022 ISPS Handa World Invitational and had previously finished T14th and seventh at the course.

In 2019, when he graduated from the Challenge Tour, he was third at Rinkven International, a parkland track in Belgium, and fourth at Dar es Salam which is, of course, in Morocco but a tree-lined test more parkland than the resort golf more typical of the country.

He returned to the second tier in 2021 and added top fives in Denmark, Sweden and Austria on more parkland courses between the trees.

And last summer he highlighted that the Brabazon works for him when he finished fourth carding rounds of 69-71-73-68.

He's had to deal with vertigo this year but as a consequence he was an emotional winner at Eichenried in June and when last seen he was finishing a fine T22nd in the Open at Royal Troon.

This is a terrific spot for him to get back into action and contend right away.

Next Best: Harry Hall 1pt each-way @ 40/1

If Ferguson has a profile a lot like last year's course winner, Cornwall's Harry Hall is a little reminiscent of Sweden's Vincent Norrman in 2023.

The latter won at Keene Trace GC in the Barbasol Championship last July and after ending his PGA Tour season crossed the Atlantic to win the Irish Open at the parkland K Club.

This year it was Hall who grabbed victory in that opposite field event at Keene Trace (now known as the ISCO Championship).

It came a week after finishing T12th in the John Deere Classic and he followed it with T24th in the 3M Open before missing the cut in the Wyndham Championship.

That still reads as excellent form and Keene Trace is a parkland layout even if it is in the States. So, too, are Crestview GC and The Glen Club which are the scenes of his Korn Ferry Tour wins.

High on confidence this week really should suit and give him a fine chance to celebrate his home-coming in style.

Final Bet: Yannik Paul 1pt each-way @ 40/1

Dan Bradbury and Richie Ramsay are tempting but final pick goes to Yannik Paul whose profile looks a great fit for The Belfry.

In one sense he proved it when third there on the Challenge Tour in 2021 but that was on the PGA National Course. Still, good vibes.

In 2022 he was T22nd on the Brabazon in this tournament and he was eighth a year last year.

Both times he ranked fifth for Strokes Gained Off the Tee and top five for Tee to Green.

In traditional stats he was high up in Driving Distance, top 10 for Greens in Regulation and ranked first for Ball Striking.

It's a method that served past winners such as Henrik Stenson, Lee Westwood, Paul Casey and Johan Edfors well.

The course has only three par-3s and the three par-5s need long, quality drives to go in search of par breakers.

The German's summer has not been too great but he was T43rd in Czechia and T19th last week. His numbers were an improvement on what went before and he had a 65 and a 67 in the first of those events and a 66 in round three last week.

Now read Steve Rawlings on the Danish Golf Championship.

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