BMW International Open 2018: All the very latest course and form guide information

The German town of Pulheim welcomes the European Tour for the 30th staging of the BMW International Open.

Located between the western cities of Dusseldorf and Cologne, this week's venue Gut Larchenhof was designed by Jack Nicklaus, opened 21 years ago, and made its Tour debut in 1998.

Accuracy off the tee will be important, while water comes into play on six holes of this generally flat inland course.

Over the years, this has been a well-supported event, with a sprinkling of top 30 golfers in attendance.

However, this week's BMW-sponsored tournament has attracted arguably its poorest field for years - and maybe the worst in its history.

Shinnecock Star

One big name player teeing-up is Tommy Fleetwood, who came mightily close to claiming his maiden major title at the US Open on Sunday.

The Englishman, now ranked No 10 in the world, will be making his third appearance on this course.

The only other member of the world's top 50 taking part is Sergio Garcia who, unlike Fleetwood, missed the cut on Long Island last week.

Garcia was fifth when Gut Larchenhof last staged this event two years ago. The Spaniard is a former winner here, having tasted victory while still a teenager in 1999.

Recent Champion

Last month's Italian Open winner Thorbjorn Olesen crosses the Atlantic to compete in Germany, having failed to survive the 36-hole chop at the US Open.

The Dane was runner-up at Larchenhof two years ago but, despite being a proven winner on the European Tour, has never been the most consistent of players.

Andy Sullivan, a three-time winner in 2015, is playing well again after slipping down the World Ranking and should be pumped up for the BMW International after failing to qualify for Shinnecock.

The former world No 28 is now ranked 114, having recovered from 142 earlier this year.

Three of his last four starts have yielded top-10 finishes, including a tie-for-fifth in Italy earlier this month.

Much further down the ranking is Peter Hanson who once reached No 17 in the world.

The Swede, and current No 404, tied-seventh at the recent Shot Clock Masters in Austria which was his highest finish for around 20 months.

Hansen stood on the podium at Gut Larchenhof as long ago as 2009 and, while he will hardly tee-up on Thursday as one of the favourites, there is always the chance he could shine because of the mediocrity of this week's field.

Course Stats

In 2016, the players who finished first and second after 72 holes, held identical positions in the Driving Accuracy standings, while being first and third respectively for Greens in Regulation.

It is also worth noting that six of the leading eight finishers on Sunday evening were inside the top-10 for GiR.

MC* - Missed Additional 36-Hole Cut

Twitter: Andy Swales@GolfStatsAlive