Tournament History
The first edition of the Hero Open was staged as recently as 2020 at the Forest of Arden and won by Sam Horsfield, as the Tour eased out of lockdown.
The event moved north to Scotland last year when Grant Forrest emerged triumphant after a typically dramatic DP World Tour Sunday and we return to the same venue this time around - Fairmont St Andrews - a course that also hosted the now defunct and only once staged Scottish Championship which featured on the DP World Tour schedule in October 2020.
Venue
The Torrance Course, Fairmont St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, Scotland
Course Details
Par 72, 7,230 yards
Stroke Average in 2021 70.94
Designed by Denis Griffiths, with the help of Sam Torrance and the late Gene Sarazen, the Torrance Course overlooks St Andrews Bay and the historic old town. With spectacular views across to the Angus coast and Carnoustie, the Torrance Course was constructed with many principles of links golf in mind, offering risk/reward opportunities at many holes.
Built as recently as 2001, and reconfigured some seven years later, the Torrance Course was used for the Scottish Senior Open between 2009 and 2014. Winning scores (over 54 holes) ranged from -4 to -17 - showing a typical wide variation for a wind-exposed set-up - and three Englishman won four editions there, with Barry Lane winning the title back-to-back in 2010 and 2011.
Here's what Torrance said about the venue on the last occasion that it was used for the Scottish Senior Open.
"It's a fantastic links golf course with holes going in all sorts of different directions. The greens are out of this world and probably some of the best you'll get in Scotland.
"The 17th is the signature hole and by far, in my opinion, the best on the course. You have the sea and out of bounds down the right and a lot of rough down the left so the tee shot is very tough and then when you get to your second there is more nasty stuff to play over so it's a real test but a stunning golf hole."
The par three 17th was the second hardest hole on the course at the Scottish Championship- averaging 3.28 - but that goes to show just how easy the setup is.
It averaged 3.21 and was the third hardest on the course last year and Grant Forrest won the title with 264 - 23-under-par total.
For more on the course, please see the video below.
TV Coverage
Live on Sky Sports all four days - starting at 12:00 on Thursday
What will it take to win the Hero Open?
Although a good week with the putter is always handy and has been in both DP World Tour events held here, strong approach play appears to be the key to success around Fairmont St Andrews.
Adrian Otaegui ranked first for Strokes Gained Approach when winning the Scottish Championship in 2020 and although he only ranked 29th for Greens In Regulation, the second and third, Matt Wallace and Aaron Rai, ranked fourth and eighth for GIR.
Last year's winner, Grant Forrest, ranked fifth for SG-APP and first for GIR and David Law and Calum Hill, who both finished tied for fourth, ranked ninth and second for SG-APP and third and fifth for GIR.
Last week's form could prove pivotal
As always with a links tournament, previous links form is a huge plus, so the usual rules apply; look at form at the recent Scottish Open over the last 11 years, the 2009, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019 editions of the Irish Open, the Open Championship and the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship for clues and in-particular, last week's Cazoo Classic from Hillside Links.
This event and the Cazoo Classic have switched this year but 12 months ago Calum Hill won the Cazoo Classic at the London Club a week after trading at odds-on here and form at Hillside (this year's venue for the Cazoo Classic) has shown up here also.
Last year's winner of this event, Grant Forrest, contended strongly at Hillside last week and England's Matt Wallace has traded at long odds-on at both venues without winning.
Keep a close eye on the weather
At the time of writing, there doesn't appear to be much difference between a morning or afternoon start on Thursday but forecasts can change rapidly in this part of the world and there was a huge bias in this event last year with the early starters on day one enjoying a draw bias over the first two days of almost six strokes.
In-Play Tactics
Although he was the only player under-par, and he won by five, Mark Davis trailed by five after the opening round of the Scottish Senior Open here in 2014 but he still sat second with a round to go, and every other winner of that event trailed by no more than two strokes at any stage.
All six Scottish Senior Open winners sat first or second with a round to go and the winner of the Scottish Championship in 2020, Otaegui, led after rounds one and two before slipping to third with a round to go. The runner-up, Matt Wallace, led by three with a round to go and he was inside the top-two places all week long.
Forrest was tied for the lead with a round to go last year but he needed to get his skates on - on Saturday, posting a ten-under-par 62 on Moving Day to go from tied 17th and seven adrift to tied for the lead.
In benign weather, it's very difficult to make up ground at a links venue though and given the forecast and the way most of the tournaments have panned out here so far, it's highly likely that a fast start will be essential and concentrating on the leaders very early on makes sense. Whether they can convert is another matter though...
Wallace lost his way here having been matched at a low of 1.374/11 with a round to go in 2020 and two men traded at odds-on in this event without winning.
Calum Hill was matched at a low of just 1.341/3 after he'd played his first six holes on Sunday in four-under-par and the runner-up, James Morrison, hit a low of 1.330/100 when he led by a stroke sat in the clubhouse after posting a nine-under-par 63.
Getting with the early pacesetters makes sense but be sure to lay some back on Sunday if they go odds-on.
Market Leaders
Given how well he'd been playing and how much he loves a links layout, 47th at the Scottish Open and a missed cut at St Andrews in the Open Championship made for a disappointing fortnight for Ryan Fox but he looks a fair price to bounce back here.
Prior to the Scottish, he'd finished third in the BMW International Open and second at the Irish Open but he was only 34th last year after a very slow start. He shot 74 on day one from the advantageous side of the draw.
Last week's winner, Richie Ramsay has form figures here reading 33-28 and looks short enough given how hard it to win back-to-back and after a tied 29th last week, when he failed to break 70 all week, the 2020 course winner, Adrian Otaegui, makes little appeal.
The Spaniard finished tied 38th in this event last year but like Fox and Ramsay, he too was granted the advantageous AM-PM slot so that's a disappointing result.
Selections
Last year's favourite, Andy Sullivan, was put behind the eight ball with a PM-AM draw 12 months ago and his 48th placed finish wasn't awful in the end given he opened with a one-over-par 73 in the worst of the weather on Thursday afternoon.
The 35-year-old Englishman trounced the field at the once-only staged low scoring English Championship at Hanbury Manor two years ago, winning in 27-under-par with the Fairmont St Andrews winner, Otaegui, seven strokes back in second, and that could prove to be a decent enough pointer.
He loves a low-scoring birdie-fest and he's a very decent links player - catching the eye last week at Hillside when finishing eighth after shooting 65-69 over the weekend.
South Africa's Justin Walters returns to Europe after an unsuccessful venture to the States where he finished 63rd in the Barbasol Championship before missing the cut in the Barracuda Championship but he was in fair form before that.
Following a third-place finish at the British Masters in May, Walters has recorded three top-20 finishes on the DP World Tour and he has a couple of nice bits of form here too, finishing 16th on debut at the Scottish Championship, when he signed off the event with a 63 and he finished tied for eighth last year from the wrong side of the draw.
Walters sat third at halfway but it had been a monumental effort to be that close to the lead and he may well have been a bit mentally drained given he slipped outside the top-ten on Saturday with a disappointing 71.
Selections:
Andy Sullivan @ 70.069/1
Justin Walters @ 75.074/1
I'll be back later with my Rocket Mortgage Classic preview and tomorrow with the Find Me a 100 Winner column.
*You can follow me on Twitter @SteveThePunter