ISPS Handa World Invitational: Course and current form stats

The concluding week of the 'British Isles Summer Swing' brings the DP World Tour to Northern Ireland for the ISPS Handa World Invitational.

This seven tournament 'series' began on the Emerald Isle on the last day of June and this is where it finishes 46 days later.

Once again, the event will be staged over two courses, and held concurrently alongside a tournament from the European Ladies Tour.

Galgorm Castle is the host venue, although competitors will also play 18 holes at nearby Massereene Golf Club.

Both events will have identical pots of prize money.

Over Thursday and Friday, the men and women will play one round at each venue, before the weekend action takes place solely at Galgorm.

A second cut occurs on Saturday evening, ahead of the finale on Sunday. The traditional Friday cut will involve the top-60 players and ties, while the second cut after 54 holes reduces the field to 35 and ties.

Course History

Galgorm made its debut on the DP World Tour in September 2020 when it staged Ireland's national open.

Just three weeks earlier the same course had hosted an event on the Challenge Tour.

In fact, Galgorm Castle in Ballymena was part of the Challenge Tour rota between 2013 and 2020.

Designed by Simon Gidman and opened in 1997, this parkland course is laid out close to the rivers of Maine and Braid, and located around 25 miles north of Belfast.

The venue has five lakes, with water coming into play on 13 holes.

Meanwhile Massereene, which is also a picturesque parkland course, was built close to the banks of Lough Neagh and is considerably older than Galgorm.

Established in 1895, Massereene has lush tree-lined fairways, smallish greens and is approximately 200 yards shorter than the host course.

Accuracy is likely to hold a greater importance than length this week, as both venues are fairly tight.

Latest betting for this week's ISPS Handa World Invitational

World Ranking Points

Leading 12 Points' Scorers (Since Jan 1st, 2022)
Points
56.90: Jordan Smith
32.03: Connor Syme
31.85: Richard Bland
33.02: Ewen Ferguson
25.44: Chase Hanna
23.83: David Law
20.45: Richard Mansell
19.30: Marcus Kinhult
19.20: Marc Warren
15.08: Santiago Tarrio
14.54: James Morrison
14.18: Andy Sullivan
Only points gained in DP World Tour events are included
Only those entered this week are included in table

Four To Watch

John Catlin: The American is a three-time winner on the DP World Tour, with one of his victories arriving at Galgorm two years ago. His best finish of 2022, so far, was at the Irish Open in early July when he tied-for-fourth.

Jens Dantorp: Has spent much of 2022 on the Challenge Tour where he currently tops the season-long rankings. With this week's event almost resembling a mediocre Challenge Tour field, the Swede will fancy his chances of claiming a maiden DP World Tour title.

Andy Sullivan: Nowadays tends to play his best golf within the British Isles. The 36-year-old stood on the podium at Celtic Manor on Sunday.

Johannes Veerman: Despite his inconsistent performances this season, the 30-year-old is more than a match for the majority of those teeing-up at Galgorm on Thursday.

Latest betting for this season's Race to Dubai standings

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MC* - Missed Additional 54-Hole Cut

Note: List Contains Leading Reserves

Note: The Challenge Tour event at Galgorm Castle in 2017 consisted of 54 holes of strokeplay, with the qualifiers contesting one day of Super Six Matchplay on Sunday. In 2019 and 2021, one round was played at Massereene. There were two tournaments at Galgorm in 2020 - one on the Challenge Tour (1) with, the other on the DP World Tour (2).