The curtain falls on the UK Swing when the European Tour heads to majestic London Golf Club in Kent, England for the Cazoo Classic. This event is a revival of the English Open, which was last played in 2002, and returns to Kent just a few weeks after The Open was contested at Royal St. George’s. It’s been over a decade since the LGC hosted a Tour event so the setting should be new to most players, but the course isn’t much different from others in these parts. He’s never won on English soil, but Bernd Wiesberger stands out as the most accomplished player in the field and is positioned as the betting favorite. With eight career Tour victories, the Austrian is looking to earn enough points to automatically qualify for the European Ryder Cup team. He’s featured in several matchups as a huge favorite with little value. Visit BookMaker.eu for a complete list of matchup odds when you’re ready to place a wager.
Cazoo Classic Matchup Odds
Bernd Wiesberger -148 vs. Andy Sullivan +115
Bernd Wiesberger -144 vs. Masahiro Kawamura +112
Bernd Wiesberger -166 vs. Richard Bland +130
Andy Sullivan -110 vs. Masahiro Kawamura -120
Andy Sullivan -130 vs. Richard Bland -101
Masahiro Kawamura -137 vs. Richard Bland +105
John Catlin -110 vs. Mikko Korhonen -120
John Catlin -115 vs. Victor Perez -115
Mikko Korhonen -125 vs. Victor Perez -105
Vincent Norrman -115 vs. Jordan Smith -115
Vincent Norrman -120 vs. Calum Hill -110
Jordan Smith -120 vs. Calum Hill -110
Matthew Jordan -105 vs. Laurie Canter -125
Richie Ramsay -105 vs. Ryan Fox -125
Rasmus Hojgaard -135 vs. Chase Hanna +104
Wil Besseling -125 vs. Thorbjorn Olesen -105
David Law -115 vs. Joachim B Hansen -115
Wade Ormsby -115 vs. Callum Shinkwin -115
Matthew Southgate +104 vs. Sean Crocker -135
Oliver Farr -115 vs. Jack Senior -115
Sami Valimaki -101 vs. Maverick Antcliff -130
Eddie Pepperell -101 vs. Garrick Porteous -130
Chris Paisley +108 vs. Daniel van Tonder -140
Daniel Hillier -120 vs. Brandon Stone -110
Marcel Siem -115 vs. Justin Walters -115
Darius van Driel -120 vs. Sihwan Kim -110
Benjamin Hebert -105 vs. Jamie Donaldson -125
David Horsey -110 vs. Wilco Nienaber -120
Ashley Chesters -101 vs. Daniel Gavins -130
Shubhankar Sharma -101 vs. Ross Fisher -130
Need to Know
The Jack Nicklaus-designed Heritage Course first opened in 1993 and hosted a number of high profile events during its lifetime. The 7,327-yard par-72 layout was home to the European Open in 2008 and 2009 and the Volvo World Match Play Championship in 2014. While a number of players will be attacking the course for the first time, it isn’t anything they aren’t used to if they’ve competed in rural England before. The course features generous fairways allowing big hitters to attack off the tee. But the greens are well defended making accuracy and a strong approach game a must. There are a number of water hazards to stay away from, but for the most part it’s a straightforward track with subtle changes in direction and as many as four reachable par-5s.
Cazoo Classic Matchup Picks
Andy Sullivan -110 vs. Masahiro Kawamura
Sullivan should feel right at home in this event making him my pick in this matchup. The Englishman had a strong start in The Open with a pair of 67s over the first two days and finished T26. He’s excited to perform in front of the home fans again. “My game has been trending nicely and I feel like I’ve had a decent run of form in the last couple of months so hopefully that can translate into a good performance,” he said. Well Andy, I’m betting on it.
Vincent Norrman -115 vs. Jordan Smith
He’s only played a handful of ET events, but Norrman has certainly made a splash. He just continued his strong collegiately career that saw him rise to No. 4 in the amateur rankings and the success followed. He started with a T14 in the Scandinavian Mixed and has three other top-15s in his five starts. His best showing was a T5 in the BMW Open and most recently he was T11 at the World Invitational. In a small sample size Norrman is among the best on Tour in strokes gained: tee to green, a key indicator this week.
Callum Shinkwin -115 vs. Wade Ormsby
Shinkwin is another player who should feel comfortable this week since this is basically a home game for him. He resides close to the London Golf Club and has visited many times in the past. And he’s playing some of his best golf recently making him another solid matchup pick. He took fourth in the Cazoo Open last month and was T16 most recently in the Hero Open scoring 14-under both times. Past history shows that number will have him at the top of the leaderboard.
Thorbjorn Olesen -105 vs. Wil Besseling
While he hasn’t played poorly over the last few months, Olesen hasn’t reached the heights of his run on the Canary Islands when he went T5-T12 in consecutive events. Last time out he was undone by an opening 74 in the Scottish Open. Impressively he went 66-69-68 over the final 54 holes to show that his game is still in form. The LGC layout plays to his strengths and I expect Olesen will climb back up the leaderboard.
Calum Hill -110 vs. Jordan Smith
Coming off his best finish in five months, Hill showed why people expect big things from him. Tied for the lead after 54 holes in the Hero Open, there were a few Sunday hiccups that dropped him to T4. Still, it was a promising four days after missing the cut in three of his previous four starts. With his game seemingly in good shape I think Hill can contend for the outright and I’ll definitely back him in this matchup.
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