• Links form should count for plenty at The International

• Good event for outsiders and Sunday trading

• Read my Travelers Championship here

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Tournament History

Founded in 1912, the KLM Open has been an ever-present on the DP World Tour since its inception in 1972, although it was one of many to be lost to the pandemic in 2020.

The KLM Open is a nomadic event and after three years at the fabulous Bernardus Golf in Cromvoirt, the KLM Open returns to The International in Amsterdam for what is the 103^rd edition of the tournament.

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Venue

The International, Badhoevedorp, Amsterdam, Netherlands

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Course Details

Par 70 6,915 yards
Stroke Average in 2019 when a par 70 measuring 7,039 - 71.62

Opened in June 2012, The International is located around four miles south-west of Amsterdam city centre, and laid out across a 77-hectare site.

The course was co-designed by Ian Woosnam and Belgian architect firm Mastergolf.

The International is a parkland course with a strong links feel to it.

Thanks to its undulating fairways, which are bordered by a plethora of mounds, many of the holes provide a sense of seclusion from the rest of the course.

The putting surfaces are large, fast, well-contoured, and they offer a large selection of potential pin positions. Water will come into play on ten holes and there is plenty of greenside sand to steer clear of.

Most parts of a golfer's game will be fully tested, with the pros having to contend with the noise of planes landing at nearby Schipol Airport.

Two years after opening, The International hosted a tournament on the European Senior Tour in 2014 and it also hosted this event in 2019.

The 11th hole was a very easy par four five years ago but it's a short par three this time around.

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Weather Forecast

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TV Coverage

Live on Sky Sports all four days, starting at 12:00 on Thursday.

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Last Eight Winners with Exchange Prices

2023 - Pablo Larrazabal -13 80.079/1
2022 - Victor Perez -13 65.064/1 (playoff)
2021 - Kristoffer Broberg -23 400.0399/1
2020 - Event Cancelled
2019 - Sergio Garcia -18 19.018/1
2018 - Ashun Wu -16 140.0139/1
2017 - Romain Wattel -15 300.0299/1
2016 -Joost Luiten -19 18.017/1
2015 - Thomas Pieters -19 70.069/1

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What Will it Take to Win the KLM Open?

We've only had one renewal here so how much use the stats are is debatable but for the record, the winner, Sergio Garcia, drove the ball nicely, ranking 15th for Driving Distance, 18th for Driving Accuracy and fourth for Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee.

He ranked third for Greens In Regulation, second for SG: Approach and first for SG: Tee-to-Green so it was all about how he got to the greens rather than what he did on and around them.

Sergio ranked only 20th for Putting Average and 31st for SG: Putting and he ranked third for Scrambling but only 32nd for SG: Around the Green.

The runner-up was a bright young prospect called Nicolai Hojgaard who had missed the cut in all his six of his previous starts on the DP World Tour and no stats were produced for the pre-event 1000.0999/1 chance.

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Is There an Angle In?

Again, with just one renewal at the venue, it's tricky to know what to expect and we shouldn't be drawing too many conclusions but links form looks like it should stand up well given who contended here five years ago and form in the desert should count for plenty too.

Hojgaard won the DP World Tour Championship at the Earth Course back in November last year, when Matt Wallace was tied for second.

Wallace was second there back in 2018 also and he finished third here five years ago behind Garcia and Hojgaard.

Sergio has played at the Earth Course ten times previously and he's finished inside the top-ten on five occasions so form there should be worth something.

Hojgaard has also won the Ras Al Khaimah Championship at Al Hamra and that's another track that may correlate nicely.

Callum Shinkwin doesn't contened anywhere very often but he led this event in 2019 after round one and he was in front at Al Hamra after the opening round back in January before eventually finishing fourth.

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Is There an Identikit Winner?

Although Sergio was a well fancied 18/119.00 chance here five years ago, two huge outsiders ran him close and this has been a great event for longshots over the years.

As many as three of the last six winners have gone off at a triple-figure price and the last two winners weren't exactly well fancied either so laying the market leaders or backing a few outsiders before the off may be great ways to play the event.

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Winner's Position and Exchange Price Pre-Round Four

2023 - Pablo Larrazabal - led by one 4.57/2
2022 - Victor Perez - tied for the lead 5.59/2
2021 - Kristoffer Broberg - led by eight 1.141/7
2020 - Event Cancelled
2019 - Sergio Garcia - tied for the lead 2.0421/20
2018 - Ashun Wu - tied second, trailing by one 8.615/2
2017 - Romain Wattel - solo second, trailing by one 5.39/2
2016 - Joost Luiten - tied third, trailing by three 7.87/1
2015 - Thomas Pieters - solo fourth, trailing by two 8.27/1

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In-Play Tactics

The DP World Tour often produces a dramatic finish and that was certainly the case here five years ago.

Garcia began the final round tied for the lead with Shinkwin and the pair went toe-to-toe for nine holes. Both birdied the first before Sergio bogeyed the second and the first significant swing came on the third when Sergio was fortunate to find the par five green...

Thin to win?@TheSergioGarcia leads by two.#KLMOpen pic.twitter.com/XPgMKI56V8

-- DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) September 15, 2019

Sergio missed the eagle putt but he followed his birdie at three with two more at four and five to go two clear. Matched at 1.34, it looked like the experienced Spaniard would assume command but pre-event 190.0 chance, Shinkwin, birdied the sixth and Garcia bogeyed six and seven. And Shinkwin was matched at 1.94 when he stood over a ten foot birdie putt at nine, that would have seen him go two clear.

Shinkwin missed the putt and it proved to be a big turning point as the Englishman made a double-bogey at the 10th and Sergio birdied 11 to kill off Shinkiwin's challenge.

It wasn't a done deal, however, as Wallace got to within a stroke of the lead and was backed at a low of 4.0, having been matched at 1000.0 in-running, but the real surprise package was Hojgaard.

The 18-year-old Dane drew alongside Garcia when he birdied the 14th and he was matched at a low of 2.64 but he failed to birdie the par five 15th before bogeying the 16th and Sergio pounced with birdies at 15 and 16. Hojgaard birdied the last to get to within one but Garcia was able to coast home for victory.

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Market Leaders

Matt Wallace sat tied for 111^th place after opening with a sorry 75 on Thursday here back in 2019 but rounds of 67, 63 and 68 after that showed this is a venue that suits his eye.

The Englishman arrives in the Netherlands following a decent run of form on the PGA Tour and I'm not at all surprised to see that he's been backed.

Having been matched at as high as 19.018/1, he's now trading at 16.015/1 and that's a better reflection of his chances.

The general perception is that Rory McIlroy choked on Sunday to hand the US Open to Bryson DeChambeau but the world number three's feeble finish at Pinehurst pales into insignificance when compared to Sebastian Soderberg's sorry Sunday at the Scandinavian Mixed two weeks ago.

Leading by eight with a round to go, the Swede's lead gradually eroded as the wet and windy day wore on and he eventually threw the tournament away completely with a double-bogey six at the 18^th when he missed this tiny bogey putt having been plugged in the greenside bunker.

BREAKING: Linn Grant wins Scandinavian Mixed event for second time after Sebastian Soderberg double-bogeys final hole pic.twitter.com/xddBaMGzPv

-- Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) June 9, 2024

Rory has decided to take a few weeks off to get over last week's horrible finish but Sederberg has elected to get back on the horse at the first opportunity and it would fabulous to see him come out and win straight away but he's not for me at less than 20/121.00.

Although in fabulous form, the collapse in Sweden wasn't the first example of him being poor in contention and I'm more than happy to swerve him.

Rasmus Hojgaard wasn't in the field five years ago when his twin burst onto the scene, but the venue should suit him, and he was third in the event 12 months ago at Bernardus Golf.

If he can start a bit better than he has done of late on the DP World Tour he's going to be a huge factor but given his last three opening rounds on the DP World Tour have seen him post 79, 80 and 73, waiting to see how he fares on Thursday makes sense.

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KLM Open Selections

I'll be back later today or tomorrow with at least one pick in this event for the Find Me a 100 Winner column but for now I'm following Matt Cooper in with two of his three picks, the defending champion, Pablo Larrazabal and the prolific Spaniard, Adrian Otaegui.

I backed Larrazabal 12 months ago at 80.079/1 before the off so I'm more than happy to chance him given he's finding his feet again after some time off around the birth of his son.

He's yet to defend a title, and that's never an easy thing to do, but he's won the BMW International Open twice previously and he's a fair price to win his 10^th DP World Tour title at 65.064/1 on the exchange.

Runner-up to Pablo last year, Otaegui also looks a bit big on the exchange and he might just be primed to bounce back into form.

He's put up form figures reading a miserable looking MC-34-30-MC after his impressive victory at the China Open at the start of May but that's not unusual for the five-time winner on the DP World Tour.

Consistently inconsistent, he'd missed the cut in his previous start before two of his last three victories and he had form figures reading 24-MC-26-30 before his victory in China.

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Read my Travelers Championship preview here

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*You can follow me on Twitter @SteveThePunter

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