European Tour’s New Season Starts with the Alfred Dunhill Championship

The European Tour ended just a few weeks ago with Lee Westwood winning the Race to Dubai. That’s great for Westwood but the terrific Englishman can’t stand by and rest on his laurels because the new season of golf on the European Tour begins this week with the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa. Although Westwood will skip the Alfred Dunhill Championship, there will be plenty of golfers standing by to win it.

Teeing off at the Leopard Creek Country Club in Malelane, S.A. will be some very good golfers. Instead of picking a winner straight-up, let’s take a look at some of the more interesting tournament matchups in this year’s Alfred Dunhill Championship.

Top 6 Tournament Matchups in the Alfred Dunhill Championship

1. Ernie Els -175 vs. Charl Schwartzel +145 – - Els is the more famous golfer of the two but Sschwartzel has won this tournament before, in 2004, and knows the course as well as Els does. Schwartzel tied for 5th in The Barclay’s Singapore Open in early November and tied for 11th in the USB Hong Kong Open. He’s definitely talented. More talented, I believe, then what the golf betting odds indicate.

   Pick: Charl Schwartzel

2. Anders Hansen -135 vs. Richard Sterne +105 – - Sterne won this last year, but hasn’t been all that great lately. In fact, he hasn’t finished better than 34th in his last 6 tournaments. Hansen finished 2nd in the Mercedes-Benz Championship, tied for 5th in The Barclay’s Singapore Open and in the Top 30 in both the UBS Hong Kong Open and the Dubai World Championship. The man’s just playing better than Sterne right now.

   Pick: Richard Sterne

3. Edoardo Molinari -135 vs. Rafael Cabrera Bello +105 – - Molinari won the World Cup of Golf with his brother recently but it’s been his terrific individual play that has made him a top contender in this tournament. He’s finished in the Top 10 in 5 out of his last 6 tournaments played and won the Kazakhstan Open and the Italian Federation Cup. Sure, he hasn’t been playing in the absolute top tournaments lately, but he’s been winning and that counts for something. Cabrera Bello just hasn’t been golfing as well as Molinari lately with a 30th place finish in the Dubai World Challenge being his best finish in his last 6 tournaments. Molinari should be able to handle him in this matchup.

   Pick: Edoardo Molinari

4. Gregory Bourdy -125 vs. Gareth Maybin -105 – - After shooting par in both the Portugal Masters and Barclay’s Singapore Open, Bourdy exploded for a 19 under and a victory in the UBS Hong Kong Open. He followed up that terrific effort with a 30th place finish in the Dubai World Championship. Gareth Maybin has actually been playing better overall than Bourdy. Maybin finished tied for 4th in the Madrid Masters, 26th in the Portugal Masters and 27th in the Dubai World Challenge. This is a tough matchup. I’ll go with the odds and Maybin.

   Pick: Gareth Maybin

5. James Kingston Ev vs. Garth Mulroy -130 – - Mulroy just hasn’t been playing well at all lately. A 101st place finish in the Dubai Desert Classic, 46th place finish in the WGC-CA, and a 157 in the U.S. Open show that Mulroy has not had a great 2009. His 40th place finish the WGC-HSBC in his last was actually his best finish in a long time. Kingston, however, might not be good enough to beat Mulroy in this matchup. Then again, Kingston has finished in the Top 50 in his last 4 events including a 30th place finish in the Dubai World Cup. He’s worth a shot in this matchup because Mulroy just hasn’t been doing well at all.

   Pick: James Kingston

6. Damien McGrane -125 vs. Rhys Davies -105 – - Really, Davies hasn’t been all that awful lately with no worse than a 36th place finish in his last 6 tournaments. He almost won the Italian Federation Cup and finished in the Top 40 in the UBS Hong Kong Open. After shooting a -9 in the Portugal Masters, Damien McGrane has shot a 3 over in both the Barclay’s Singapore Open and the Dubai World Championship. Davies has to be the bet in this matchup because of the odds. McGrane just isn’t doing that much better than Davies right now.

   Pick: Rhys Davies

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