The European Tour’s strategy of playing tournaments in groups regionally brings us another new but old event this week. The Open de Portugal returns to the ET schedule for the first time since 2017 as a dual-ranking event with the Challenge Tour to complete the three-tournament Iberian Swing. The tournament was first played in 1953 and was part of the Euro Tour schedule from 1973 to 2010. It returned following a break as a dual-ranking event in 2017 and was a Challenge Tour-only event the last two years. The Open de Portugal will be contested for the first time at Royal Obidos Resort starting Thursday. Fresh off his win at last week’s Portugal Masters, George Coetzee is the prohibitive favorite to make it two in a row. BookMaker.eu has a complete list of betting odds for the 2020 Open de Portugal when you’re ready to place a wager.
Odds to Win Open de Portugal at BookMaker.eu
George Coetzee +400
Garrick Higgo +1600
Jamie Donaldson +2000
Bjorn Hellgren +2200
Craig Howie +2200
Wade Ormsby +2500
Scott Vincent +2800
Aaron Cockerill +3000
Richard Mansell +3500
Alexander Knappe +4000
Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano +4000
Niklas Norgaard Moeller +4500
Ashun Wu +5000
Matt Ford +5000
Ricardo Gouveia +5000
Christofer Blomstrand +5500
Liam Johnston +5500
Martin Leth Simonsen +5500
Stuart Manley +5500
Julian Suri +6000
Jens Dantorp +6000
Julien Brun +6600
Scott Gregory +6600
Marcel Siem +7000
Romain Wattel +7500
Bernd Ritthammer +8000
Jens Fahrbring +8000
Robin Sciot-Siegrist +8000
Andrew Wilson +9000
Christopher Mivis +9000
Enrico Di Nitto +9000
Espen Kofstad +9000
Pedro Oriol +9000
Ryan Evans +9000
Odds Analysis
George Coetzee +400
I backed Coetzee last week at higher odds and the move paid off. It’s hard not to go back to him considering he’s the best in the mixed field. In his first Euro Tour start since the lockdown, Coetzee won the Portugal Masters by 2-shots. He also enjoyed success on the Sunshine Tour ahead of that with a win and a runner-up. The price might drive some bettors away, but like I said he’s the class of the field and getting something back is better than nothing.
Garrick Higgo +1600
With nearly all the Euro Tour stars across the pond for this week’s U.S. Open the field in Portugal is wide open. This event has a Challenge Tour feel to it and that benefits Higgo, one of the best in the second-tier circuit. A South African like Coetzee, Higgo had a tremendous first season on the Sunshine Tour winning three events, including the Tour Championship back in January. He competed in the dual-ranking Euram Bank Open in July grabbing a share of sixth with four sub-70 rounds. The kid can play.
Richard Mansell +3500
Mansell is another youngster getting his feet wet on the Challenge Tour. He had three top-10s last year and appears to be snapping back into form after the COVID-induced lockdown. The Englishman earned the best finish of his young career at the dual-ranking Euram Bank Open in July finishing as runner-up, two-shots behind medalist Joel Stalter. The makeshift Challenge Tour schedule had him in Northern Ireland two weeks ago where he finished T23. Mansell’s also looking to climb the Road to Mallorca standings where he’s currently second.
Wade Ormsby +2500
It makes for a great story should a Challenge Tour player win a dual-ranking event. That would be comparable to the JV team beating the varsity. It can happen. It just hasn’t happened in the two mixed tournaments since the restart. You have to start somewhere, though, right? Anyway, there are only a few JV players with a realistic chance of winning so sticking with the Euro Tour guys is probably a better strategy. Ormsby is one of the bigger names, and though he missed the cut last week his strong ball-striking will serve him well on a new layout.
Julian Suri +6000
Suri has watched his stock plummet with a number of poor outings. He needs to find his stroke and this could be the tournament where he does that. Just two years ago Suri was ready to crack the top-50 world ranking, however that didn’t happen. He has since dropped outside the top-350. Suri has missed more cuts than he’s made this season and hasn’t finished better than T39, so there is risk involved. He has played on the biggest stage and with less pressure he could return a nice chunk of change.
Course: Royal Obidos Spa & Golf Resort – 7,283-yards, par-72
Don’t let the beauty of this course fool you. Located a short distance from Portugal’s capital of Lisbon, the Royal Obidos Resort is a stones-throw from the Atlantic Ocean and plays host to this event for the first time. At just under 7,300 yards the Seve Ballesteros-designed course melds into the landscape to take advantage of the surrounding terrain and present a challenge to golfers of every level. The course has been ranked among the best in the county offering views of the Atlantic on the back nine. The fairways are wide with several bunkers as the only defense. Water comes into play on six holes after the turn with lakes and waterways presenting a hazard. It’s a straightforward layout with distance off the tee allowing players an easy approach.
TV Coverage: None
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