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80/181.00 Matthew Southgate can celebrate making Open
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80/181.00 Edoardo Molinari has been starting fast recently
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80/181.00 Justin Walters opened with a 63 here last year
Weather forecast for Thursday
Wind is certainly a factor on day one at HimmerLand. The early starters have it around 18mph and gusts pushing 30mph while the p.m. wave face 21mph winds/26mph gusts. In short, everyone will have their trouser legs flapping.
That's not all. Rain is predicted all morning and there's even the threat of a t-storm. The afternoon starters might dodge it if the forecast proves correct. Temperatures are mild, rising slightly from the 50s to the 60s as the day goes on.
Overall, I'll pick one early starter and two from the afternoon wave.
Matthew Southgate @ 80/181.00
Matthew Southgate has already had an excellent week after qualifying for the Open Championship at Hoylake later this month. The Englishman came through at Royal Porthcawl.
But here's an interesting angle. The last time he punched his ticket for The Open (in 2017 after qualifying at Royal Cinque Ports), Southgate opened up with a 65 in round one of the Irish Open a couple of days later to sit third.
It's a fair strategy to think a qualifier would be on a high but here we have evidence.
Southgate went on to finish runner-up in Ireland and a year earlier after coming through another Open qualifier he rode the wave to take 11th in the Open de France.
His form has been patchy in the last few months but he does have a fourth at the Soudal Open and a 12th in the Scandinavian Mixed.
And the final piece of the puzzle is his course form here. Last year Southgate opened up with a 63 to lie second after 18 holes and he was in front after 54 before finishing fourth.
A strong wind player, the conditions should suit him and he makes appeal at 80/181.00 from his 12.50pm tee time.
Edoardo Molinari @ 80/181.00
I had Edoardo Molinari in the staking plan in last week's British Masters at The Belfry and he missed landing us some each-way returns by a single shot.
But he's 80/181.00 again here and I'm more than happy to try the Italian again, especially as he has an afternoon tee-time of 12.50pm.
In his last two events, Molinari has finished day one in eighth at The Belfry after a 69 and top of the Thursday leaderboard thanks to a 66 in the BMW International Open in Germany.
He could only finish 18th and 49th respectively in those two events but he's now made 10 of his last 12 cuts and shown an ability to throw in low rounds.
Molinari opened with a 67 here last year so hopefully he can get right in the first-round mix once more.
Justin Walters @ 80/181.00
This really is becoming a repeat of last week's preview now as I also chose Justin Walters at The Belfry for FRL.
The South African couldn't quite get it going on day one but he did sit eighth after 54 holes before slipping to 23rd.
That gives him recent form of 23-26-21 and in the first of those he was seventh after the first round of the Scandinavian Mixed.
Walters also has strong, if brief, course form to justify a punt at 80/181.00.
Last year on his course debut he finished tied eighth and that was fuelled by a bogey-free 63 which put him second on the Thursday leaderboard.
This looks a good course for him and I'll back the 09.10am starter to thrive again.