Made in Himmerland 2021: Your form stats ahead of this week's European Tour event in Denmark

The European Tour journeys to its most northern outpost in more than 20 months for this week's event in Denmark.

Made in Himmerland has attracted just six of the world's top 100, which is fairly standard for Tour events in the aftermath of Covid.

Since the European Tour emerged from the initial four-month lockdown last July, there has been a significant reduction in prize money on offer, together with a subsequent reduction in quality of field.

And for the sixth time in its history, Himmerland Golf and Spa will be hosting a European Tour event at its luxurious resort in north Jutland.

Situated around 16 miles south-west of Aalborg - Denmark's fourth largest town - Himmerland has undulating fairways and greens, with water coming into play on four holes.

Wind is usually a factor at this fairly exposed northern European location, while fairway lies on the Creeping Bent and Festuca turf can sometimes be described as tight.

Himmerland, which is located close to the village of Gatten, first staged a European Tour event in 2014, two years after undergoing a major €2m redesign.

It was scheduled to host an event in 2020, but had to be scrapped because of the pandemic, while two years earlier the tournament was moved to Silkeborg Ry to celebrate local resident Thomas Bjorn's appointment as Europe's Ryder Cup skipper.

On the tee

Robert MacIntyre (46) and Bernd Wiesberger (65), the top-two ranked players taking part, finished second and first respectively when Himmerland last staged a top tier event in 2019.

MacIntyre has played well in patches this year and flies in from the States where he made the cut at last week's PGA Championship in South Carolina.

Wiesberger, meanwhile, failed to survive 36 holes at Kiawah Island, missing the cut by four strokes.

Latest odds for this week's Made in Himmerland

Elsewhere, Matthias Schwab goes in search of a first Tour title on the back of four top-12 finishes from his most recent five starts.

Other in-form pros who are yet to win on the European Tour include Scotsman Calum Hill and Adrian Meronk of Poland.

Hill has already tasted glory in Denmark, by winning on the Challenge Tour at Silkeborg Ry two years ago.

Battling back

Two pros who have enjoyed victories at this level previously are Eddie Pepperell and Justin Harding.

Pepperell has lost his way since reaching number 32 in the world during the summer of 2019.

However, his two most recent outings have yielded top-12 finishes, which is maybe a sign that the Englishman is ready to challenge for titles once again.

This week's opposition is certainly not a problem for the 30-year-old from Oxfordshire if he can hit the ground running in Denmark.

Latest odds for next month's US Open in California

Harding is another who is travelling back up the World Ranking and is more than capable of winning in this week's mediocre field.

Harding's fellow South African, 21-year-old Wilco Nienaber, recently secured a maiden victory on home turf and should be full of confidence at Himmerland.

And finally, another golfer showing promise at a lower level is Scotland's Craig Howie whose last five starts have all yielded top-15 finishes, including a Challenge Tour victory in Malmo, Sweden. The 26-year-old could well be a decent e/w punt this week.

Twitter: Andy Swales@GolfStatsAlive

Note: List Contains Leading Reserves

Note: There were no European Tour events at Himmerland in either 2018 or 2020. In 2018, the course hosted a Challenge Tour event which was won by Joachim B Hansen.