Open de Espana Each-Way Tips: Back high flying Ferguson at 45/1

• Scot Ewen Ferguson is a winner this year with course form

• India's Shubhankar Sharma has twice gone close in Madrid

• New boy Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen can make an impression

Do you know the story of Matthieu Pavon's tattoo?

He has quite a few actually, more than are visible when he's in a golf shirt, but the one on his chest was inked after a visit to India, is written in Sanskrit and it translates into an instruction to "grow up" in English.

The reason? "When I was in my first year on the DP World Tour, we traveled to a lot of different countries," he explained earlier this year. "I was one of the young guys, I wanted to do great but it wasn't happening. I was complaining a lot, and I wasn't happy about the situation and my results on the course.

"Then I went to India and I saw some of the poorest things in my life. I saw kids almost naked in the streets having fun close to some water on the side of the road, having no shoes and stuff like this.

"And I was like, 'I really have to grow up. I have to stop behaving like a teenager, stop complaining about everything.' I have to embrace the moment because I'm a very lucky person, and I think all the players are. It's a lot of hard work, but we are still lucky to be healthy and have a great job.

"This is why I wanted to get these words in Indian on my chest."

Perhaps this perspective helped him deal with a solid career that for so long refused to yield wins.

This time last year he'd finished in the top three on the Challenge and DP World Tours no less than 10 times without lifting a trophy.

When he carded a 77 to miss the cut in the Open de France it was a sixth straight failure to land a top 40 and he was frustrated. He pressed reset, changed caddie, finished an encouraging sixth in the Dunhill Links, and then returned to the Open de Espana at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, scene of his tenth and most recent top three in late 2022.

He opened with a round of 63 to grab the lead and he never let it go. Within weeks he had earned a PGA Tour card, within months he had won the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, in April he spent all week in the top 20 at Augusta National, in June he threatened to win the US Open.

As growth goes, it wasn't bad.

He returns to defend the title this week and is up against one of the finest fields that this venerable tournament has welcomed in decades.

Three-time champion Jon Rahm heads the betting and two of those wins came on this course. He's joined by fellow LIV performers Tyrrell Hatton, Patrick Reed, David Puig and Eugenio Chacarra.

Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry, Aaron Rai, Matt Wallace, Sepp Straka, Victor Perez and Matteo Manassero add significant lustre as they all chase not only the win but vital Ryder Cup qualifying points.

Main Bet: Ewen Ferguson 1pt each-way @ 45/1

Madrid is not exactly Nairobi, Johannesburg, Mexico City or Crans Montana (all of them significantly high up) but at 657 metres above sea level its thin air does impacts on club selection and carry length, and players who do well there tend to have proved themselves in some other kind of altitude.

Munich is much the same. It's about 520 metres above sea level and was the venue, in June, for Ewen Ferguson's third victory on the DP World Tour in the BMW International Open.

Moreover, it was far from the first time the Scot has indicated that he's quite at home doing maths ahead of hitting approaches.

His second Challenge Tour top 10 was in Prague (399m), he's twice been second on the same circuit at Adamstal (720m), he was the four shot 54-hole leader when eighth in the 2022 Kenya Open in Nairobi and seventh there this year.

He was also, rather more straightforwardly, ninth in this event and on this course last year.

He's in nice form, too. He was fourth at halfway when T36th in the Irish Open and then T18th last week (when ranking fifth for Strokes Gained Approach).

Next Best: Shubhankar Sharma 1pt each-way @ 90/1

We'll stick with the big prices this week with there being a strong chance that the win will go to one of the many short prices options at the top end of the market.

Shubhankar Sharma's first win on the DP World Tour came high up on the South African high veldt in Johannesburg at Randpark GC in 2017.

He's yet to win again at height but he has frequently flirted with doing so.

In the 2018 WGC Mexico Championship he was the two shot 36 and 54 hole leader ahead of finishing ninth.

In 2021 he was just three shots back of the pre-final round leader in the European Masters in Crans.

In 2022 he was the one shot halfway leader in the Kenya Open in Nairobi.

Most persuasively he was third in this event (and on this course) in 2021 and second at halfway when T35th last year.

Some promising form (four top 20s in six starts) has taken a stumble in the last fortnight. But he did thrash a second round 65 in the Irish Open two weeks ago before missing the cut last week.

Final Bet: Rasmus Neergard-Petersen 1pt each-way @ 70/1

The young Dane Rasmus Neergard-Petersen got his first full season on the Challenge Tour to a tremendous start with a victory in India, another in the UAE and a second place in Seville.

After a bit of a lull he added a third win in Germany and with it earned Battlefield Promotion to the main tour.

He's an exciting prospect, one who was second at halfway in the 2023 BMW International Open at Munich Eichenried on his DP World Tour debut and that most recent win came just north of Munich (albeit at a lower altitude).

He was also second at halfway in the Danish Golf Championship at this level last month.

He's had an experienced caddie on the bag this season and I found out last week that he's very excited about his young charge's potential.

Now read Steve Rawlings on the Open de Espana

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