Dutch Open 2021: Form stats for this week's European Tour event in the Netherlands

With autumn fast approaching, the action switches back to the continent of Europe for this week's Dutch Open in the village of Cromvoirt.

The Dutch Open is one of the longest-running events in professional golf, having first been played more than 100 years ago.

It's been ever-present on the European Tour's annual calendar and, since the end of World War Two, has only been cancelled once.

No prizes for correctly guessing that this occurred last year because of Covid.

The 2020 edition was scheduled to take place at Bernardus Golf Resort which has had to wait another 12 months to make its debut on the European Tour.

Bernardus, which was designed by American architect Kyle Phillips, is located around three miles south-west of the town of 's-Hertogenbosch and opened in 2018.

It is a heathland course laid out within a backdrop of dunes, heath and gorse.

Despite being a typically low-lying venue of the Netherlands, the fairways are well-contoured with plenty of carefully crafted undulations.

Water is a prominent feature at Bernardus, coming into play on 11 holes, both in the form of ponds of varying sizes, as well as meandering streams.

On the tee

However, despite the great traditions of this tournament, this week's field will be one of the weakest in his illustrious history.

That said, opportunity will certainly be knocking in the Netherlands for many players who rarely get an opportunity to tee-up in even run of the mill events on the European Tour.

The Dutch Open field is full of in-form Challenge Tour golfers, including Santiago Tarrio, who currently leads the Road to Mallorca standings by a significant margin.

Check out latest betting for Dutch Open

The 30-year-old has dominated the Challenge Tour this year thanks to two victories and five other podium finishes.

And in a rare excursion onto the European Tour the Spaniard finished third at the Hero Open in Scotland.

Despite his status as a current Challenge Tour player, Tarrio will still tee-up on Thursday as the fourth highest-ranked golfer in the field, hoping to follow in the footsteps of his late-compatriot Seve Ballesteros who claimed his maiden European Tour title at the Dutch Open, 45 years ago.

Other contenders

Jamie Donaldson, joint runner-up at Wentworth, goes again as does north Londoner Andrew Johnston who tied-sixth.

With regards to World Ranking points, it was Johnston's biggest haul in three and a half years, moving him 85 positions up the standings to 186.

Among those European Tour golfers in decent form is American Johannes Veerman, winner in the Czech Republic - another low-key tournament - last month.

Finally, Belgian Thomas Pieters enjoyed his best performance in two years at the weekend, by sneaking into the top-10 at the PGA Championship.

The 29-year-old made his Ryder Cup debut five years ago but has since lost his way.

He is a former world No 23 and a four-time winner on the European Tour.

Twitter: Andy Swales@GolfStatsAlive

MC* - Missed Additional 54-Hole Cut

Note: List Contains Leading Reserves