Mallorca Golf Open: Rasmus the worthy favourite

• Son Muntaner hosts the second Mallorca Open
• Low scores expected on easy looking track
• In-form Hojgaard a fair price to win again

Tournament History

The Mallorca Open was intended to be a one-off event staged to fill a gap in last year's DP World Tour schedule caused by the pandemic so it's good to see it back as the anchor leg of a three-week-long Spanish Swing.

Last year's inaugural edition was staged at Golf Santa Ponsa but were taking in the Son Muntaner Golf Club just outside Parma this time around.

Venue

Son Muntaner Golf Club, Palma, Mallorca, Spain

Course Details

6,952 yards - Par 71

Designed by Kurt Rossknecht and opened in 2000, Son Muntaner underwent a major overhaul in 2016 when all the fairways and greens were reseeded.

The fairways are Bermuda and the greens Bentgrass.

As per usually the DP Tour have absolutely no information on their website and the course has never been used before so we're almost completely in the dark.

The course has the appearance of a typical Spanish parkland track that the pros should devour.

There appears to be plenty of room off the tee, although water does come into play on six holes.

The three par fives measure between only 533 and 573 yards and the par four fifth measures just 344 yards so they'll be plenty of opportunities to score.

Weather Forecast

TV Coverage

Live on Sky Sports all four days, beginning at 13:00 on Thursday

Other Kurt Rossknecht designs to consider

For what it's worth, I've found a list of Kurt Rossknecht designed tracks here and he's pretty prolific.

Bad Griesbach has been used on the DP World Tour before but the most familiar track to regular European golf fans would be the Golfclub München Eichenried which has hosted the BMW International on and off since it opened in 1989.

Haotong Li won there this year, beating Thomas Pieters in a playoff but whether the form in Germany will be transferable is debatable as the two venues look very different.

What Will it Take to Win the Mallorca Golf Open?

It's very difficult to know what to expect here but it doesn't look like a demanding track and I suspect the scoring will be better than it was last year when Denmark's Jeff Winther won with a 15-under-par total.

Bubble Boys may be worth siding with

The cut off point for keeping your card is rapidly approaching with the season ending DP World Tour Championship less than a month away.

With places in the field limited at the Nedbank Challenge, anyone bobbing around the crucial 120th place on the Race to Dubai standings needs to secure their cards quickly. Either here in Mallorca or at next week's Portugal Masters.

Angel Hidalgo raised his game at Valderrama last week to secure his card, moving up from 130th to 88th with a fourth placed finish and study of the current standing, paying particular attention to those outside the top-120 that don't have any win exceptions, may pay dividends over the next two weeks.

Securing his 2023 DP World Tour card meant everything to @Angel_Hidalgo7 #EDAM2022 pic.twitter.com/zVl1EhrHBG

? DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) October 17, 2022

In-Play Tactics

At this stage, there doesn't appear to be a huge draw bias and we look like getting a benign week with pleasant temperatures.

If the scoring is low on Thursday, and as suspected, the pros are able to overpower the venue, it may well be worth concentrating on the leaders as it's harder to make up ground when scoring is low.

Market Leaders

Following his disappointing defeat in the Open de France, it was no real surprise to see Rasmus Hojgaard fail to really figure at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship next time out (finished tied for 17th) but he looks to be over that now if last week's fifth at Valderrama is anything to go by.

His stats have been impressive of late and it would be no surprise at all to see him become the second Dane to take the title. He's a worthy favourite.

Ryan Fox missed the cut at Valderrama last week but that wasn't a surprise given it was his first start since winning the Alfred Dunhill Links.

The Kiwi will be able to open his shoulders up here and I expect a much improved performance on a track that could easily suit.

Adrian Otaegui played some sublime golf to win by six last week but just like Fox at Valderrama, Otaegui may well take time to adjust to winning his latest title and the front two in the market look head and shoulders above the rest.

Selection

I've got one or two in mind for tomorrow's Find Me a 100 Winner column but my only wager for now is a tiny one on the favourite.

Rasmus Hojgaard is going to win again sooner rather than later and given he's no bigger than 12/1 on the High Street I was more than happy to throw a few pounds in his direction at 15.014/1.

Selection:
Rasmus Hojgaard @ 15.014/1

*You can follow me on Twitter @SteveThePunter