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British Masters: Nicolai chanced again at the Belfry

Steven Rawlings
02 May 2022
6 min read

An emotional Richard Bland after his win last year

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After two weeks in Spain, the DP World Tour moves on to England for the British Masters so read Steve's comprehensive preview ahead of Thursday's start here...

"Accuracy is very important – especially on approach. Bland ranked number one for Driving Accuracy and second for Greens in Regulation 12 months ago."

Tournament History

The British Masters was first staged in 1946, when originally known as the Dunlop Masters.

There was no edition in 1984 and the event was lost from the schedule altogether after Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano won at this week's venue, the Belfry, in 2008 but with the help of Sky Sports, it made a successful and very welcome return to the schedule in 2015 when Ian Poulter hosted the event at Woburn.

Since then, Luke Donald, Lee Westwood (twice), Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood and Danny Willett have all hosted the tournament and Willett returns for a second stint this time around, having hosted 12 months ago.

Venue

The Belfry, Wishaw, Warwickshire, England.

Course Details

Par 72 - 7, 310 yards
Stroke Index in 2021 - 72.37

The Belfry hosted this event for three years in-a-row between 2006 and 2008 and it also hosted the last four editions of the now defunct Benson & Hedges International between 2000 and 2003, as well as four editions of the Ryder Cup.

After a break of 12 years, having last hosted this event in 2008, the Belfry made a welcome return to the DP World Tour in 2020 when it hosted the one-off UK Championship - won in extra-time by Rasmus Hojgaard in 2020- and it was the venue for this event again 12 months ago when Richard Bland beat Guido Migliozzi in a playoff.

THE BELFRY 1.jpg

The Belfry is a relatively flat, mostly tree-lined course, with some narrow fairways. Water is in play on seven holes - most noticeably at the short drivable par four 10th which last year averaged 3.8.

The majority of the Poa Annua greens are fairly small and the bigger ones have tiers and undulations, placing a premium on long putting and scrambling.

Winners at the Belfry this Century

2000 B&H International - Jose Maria Olazabal -13
2001 B&H International - Henrik Stenson -13
2002 B&H International - Angel Cabrera -10
2003 B&H International - Paul Casey -11
2006 British Masters - Johan Edfors -11
2007 British Masters - Lee Westwood -15
2008 British Masters - Gonzalo Fernandez Castano -12 (playoff)
2020 UK Championship - Rasmus Hojgaard -14 (playoff)
2021 British Masters - Richard Bland -13 (playoff)

Weather Forecast

TV Coverage

Live on Sky Sports all four days, starting at 13:30 on Thursday.

Last Seven Tournament Winners with Pre-event Exchange Prices

2021 - Richard Bland -13 220.0219/1
2020 - Renato Paratore -18 70.069/1
2019 - Marcus Kinhult -16 370.0369/1
2018 - Eddie Pepperell -9 42.041/1
2017 - Paul Dunne -20 70.069/1
2016 - Alex Noren -18 23.022/1
2015 - Matthew Fitzpatrick -15 40.039/1

What Will it Take to Win the British Masters?

I couldn't find any stats for the 2001 and 2002 editions of the Benson & Hedges International but there are enough clues from the other seven events staged here this century to suggest accuracy is very important - especially on approach. Bland ranked number one for Driving Accuracy and second for Greens in Regulation 12 months ago.

The two playoff protagonists at the UK Championship in 2020, Rasmus Hojgaard and Justin Walters, ranked tied sixth for GIR and in behind them, Martin Kaymer, who finished tied third, ranked second for GIR, with Craig Howie (T5) and Calum Hill (T9), ranking fourth and fifth for that stat. The two players tied for third last year, Miko Korhonen and Dave Coupland, ranked third and fifth for GIR.

Bland only ranked 52nd for Driving Distance and Johan Edfors won here rankling only 54th for Driving Accuracy so I wouldn't get too hung up on the driving metrics.

Hojgaard putted particularly well here in 2020, ranking first for Putting Average, but the top-six all did. The worst any of the top-five and ties ranked for PA was 14th but it was a very different story last year. Bland ranked 48th and the next four on the leaderboard ranked 35th, 9th, 19th and 28th. Dean Burmester, who finished tied sixth, ranked number one but only three of the top-15 ranked inside the top-10 for PA.

Last year could be a bit of a one-off with regards to putting though, given the worst any winner had ranked for PA was 11th prior to that.

The first three home ranked first, second and fourth for Scrambling 12 months ago and Lee Westwood and Gonzalo Fernandez Castano won here ranking first and fourth for that stat.

Is There an Angle In?

Richard Bland is by some distance the biggest outsider to win here this century.

Having been matched at a high of 300.0299/1 before the off, and playing in his 478th DP World Tour event, he was winning his first tournament at the age of 48 but aside from the very popular Blandy, looking at the list of Belfry winners, the first thing to notice is what a stellar list it is.

The three B&H winners have all won major championships and both Lee Westwood and Paul Casey's names will pop up in any discussion surrounding the best players that are yet to win one.

Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano hasn't won a major, in fact the closest he ever came was tenth in the 2013 US Open, but he's won seven times on the DP World Tour and Johan Edfors was very much the man to beat back in 2006. He's only won three DP World Tour events but all three were between March and July in 2006, so even though that pair can't be described as out of the top drawer, they're multiple winners who were in great form when they won here.

Fernando-Castano's win here was his fourth title in four consecutive seasons and the 2020 UK Championship winner, Rasmus Hojgaard, looks to have an incredibly high ceiling given he's already won three times and he's still only 21!

In-Play Tactics

Richard Bland sat third after round one last year (trailing by two) and he was tied for the lead at halfway but he was still trading at 110.0109/1 before round four, having slipped to three adrift and tied 12th and a fairly slow start can definitely be overcome at the Belfry.

Having gone off at around 22.021/1, Hojgaard was matched at a high of 200.0199/1 in-running in 2020 after an opening 73 had seen him trail by nine and he was still seven back at halfway and five adrift through 54 holes. His seven-under-par 65 in round four was his best of the week and the joint-best of the day.

Jose Maria Olazabal started slowly here in 2000, with an opening round of 75 that saw him sit tied for 25th and six off the lead, Paul Casey and Lee Westwood both trailed by five after round one when they won here and Fernandez-Castano was four adrift and tied for 24th after the opening round in 2008.

Casey was tied for the lead after three rounds in 2006 and Henrik Stenson won wire-to-wire but six of the last seven course winners came from behind, trailing by two, three (x3), four and five strokes, so it can't be described as frontrunners course.

Migliozzi traded at a low of 1.251/4 in regulation play last year, before three-putting the 17th and the UK Championship produced a dramatic finale too. Martin Kaymer traded at a low of 1.341/3 and Walters touching even money, so this looks a great track for Sunday trading and taking on the leaders.

Market Leaders

This is wide-open event with several players vying for favouritism at around the 25.024/1 mark.

Last year's favourite, Robert Macintyre, who finished eighth last year makes little appeal given he's not in quite the form he was 12 months ago. With 2021 form figures reading MC-MC-13-9-15-35-35-23-MC he looks more like one to take on than side with and I'm more than happy to swerve him.

ROBERT MACINTYRE.jpg

Last week's winner, Adri Arnaus, is going to do well to lift himself and go again but he's so talented, he's likely to rack up a few wins now the monkeys off his back.

It suited him to rally from off the pace on Sunday but he was well aware of his position in the tournament when he birdied 16 and 17 and he was very solid in extra time, finally winning a DP World Tour event at the third time of asking.

Adrian Meronk is likely to be popular this week. He finished third behind Bland last year and he's n great form, having finished third in the Qatar Masters in his penultimate start and third on Sunday in Spain but he's looking to win for the first time on the DP World Tour and others are preferred.

Selections

The market is still settling but I'm going to backing both last week's selections in Spain - Nicolai Hojgaard and Adrian Otaegui.

Hojgaard is definitely trending in the right direction and I'm happy to overlook Otaegui's missed cut after the disappointment of his second place finish the week before. The market appears to be reacting too severely to that one bad week.

Selections:
Nicolai Hojgaard @ 40.039/1
Adrian Otaegui @ 50.049/1

I'll be back tomorrow with the Find Me a 100 Winner Column

*You can follow me on Twitter @SteveThePunter