Portugal Masters Each-Way Tips: Rozner primed at Dom Pedro

• In-form Antoine Rozner can land a third tour win
• Swede Marcus Kinhult has course form
• Francesco Laporta likes tests that require going low

Main Bet: Antoine Rozner 1pt each-way @ 20/1

There's a sense of go low or go home about this final regular event of the DP
World Tour's 2022 season - the Portugal Masters.

At the end of four days of action at Dom Pedro Victoria GC in Vilamoura only the top 117 in the rankings will retain their full playing rights for next season.

That leaves the likes of David Horsey, Joost Luiten, Ashley Chesters, Lucas
Bjerregaard and Mike Lorenzo Vera fretting about their short-term future.

To avert a trip to Qualifying School they will need to press the birdie pedal to the metal because this is a week that yields low scores.

You've got to go right back to Shane Lowry's win in 2012 since there were
anything other than really low scores being flung around.

The Irishman's highlight was one round of 66. Since then David Lynn opened with two 65s and closed with a 63 in his triumph, Alex Levy won a 36 hole edition with scores of 63-61, Andy Sullivan posted a pair of 64s, Padraig Harrington had a 63, Bjerregaard two 65s, Tom Lewis a 63 and a 61, Steven Brown closed 65-66, George Coetzee signed for three 66s and last year Thomas Pieters had a 64 and a 65.

In addition to that, nine of those 10 winners (the exception was Levy) also had or have generally solid course records which include either top 10s or a series of weekends played.

First pick Frenchman Antoine Rozner fits the latter category having finished 36th in both his two visits but he was also third after 36 holes on debut in 2020.

He's also in very fine fettle having finished 16th or better in six of his last seven starts, a run taking in top 20s at the Czech Masters, Italian Open, Open de France and Andalucia Masters plus two fourth-placed finishes at the European Masters and Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

Although he's not yet lasted the distance at Dom Pedro he has shown a liking for this sort of test.

Early in his rookie year of 2020 he lost out in a play-off at Heritage in the Mauritius Open - a relatively low-scoring resort course with sea breezes.

He ended that first campaign with victory in the Dubai Championship on the Fire Course at Jumeirah where he carded 63-69-67-64.

A year later, on defence, he opened 65-64 to grab the halfway lead before
finishing fourth.

In-between he landed victory in the Qatar Masters at Education City - another resort course.

After that good form on tougher tracks he can now do what he really enjoys: firing at pins.

Next Best: Marcus Kinhult 1pt each-way @ 66/1

Another Frenchman, Mathieu Pavon, came very close to selection off the back of second here last year and second last time out.

Understandably, that has rather highlighted his claims and as a fellow yet to win after many near-misses I can overlook him at 40/1.

Instead, I turn to Sweden's Marcus Kinhult who does have experience of winning to add to a decent recent result and also some course form.

He's a curious cove who won that title - the 2019 British Masters at Hillside - off the back of four missed cuts and his sixth at Valderrama last time out came after four failures to make the weekend.

In fact, after an opening lap of 76 it looked as if the rot was yet to stop, but a 67 vaulted him up the leaderboard and two 68s at the weekend saw him pass all but five in the field.

Back in 2018 he was fourth in this event with a pair of 65s sandwiched by a 68 and a 69.

If he likes a spot he's well capable of repeating the form.

He was third this year when back at Hillside and also third this year at Doha where he was top three back in 2018.

He's also been second at Al Mouj in Oman which, like Doha and Dom Pedro, is blustery resort golf.

Final Bet: Francesco Laporta 1pt each-way @ 100/1

There's no getting away from the fact that Italy's Francesco Laporta is in a spot of bother form-wise.

He was 16th in the European Masters in late August and fourth in the Made in
Himmerland a week later, but they are his only top 20s since May.

He needs a good week in order to jump from 121st on the rankings into the safety of the top 117.

But he's also saved himself at the last opportunity before, finishing second in the 2020 Dubai Championship to move 44 spots up the rankings to 100th.

As with Rozner, Laporta's ability to go low at Jumeirah Fire is a good hint for this week and it has been backed up - he was also second there last year, a week after finishing seventh here in Portugal.

In addition, he's got plenty of low rounds on resort or modern tracks.

One of them won him a Challenge Tour title in China in 2019, the same year he had a 62 at Samsun in Turkey.

On the main tour he's carded a 63 at Abu Dhabi and a 62 at Adeje in Spain.

I also like his seventh at Verdura in 2018 Sicilian Open - a track plenty of Dom Pedro specialists enjoyed.

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