Genworth Stats Pack - Preview Report

Matteo Manassero has competed in this event 4 times before (with a best of 3rd last year) and he arrives with finishes of 53rd / 72nd / 34th / 26th from his last four starts (steady but not quite at his best). Looking at his Genworth Statistics since the beginning of August, the 20 year old Italian maestro ranks lower than usual for the long game categories, but his short game looks reasonably sharp (note that two of the four events were played on very difficult courses, distorting things slightly). As the long game comes back up to scratch, we should see the Eagles and Birdies per Round improve, and the Par 4 Scoring return to normal levels.

Francesco Molinari has competed in this event 12 times before (winning in 2006) and he arrives with finishes of 44th / 33rd / 42nd / CUT / CUT from his last five starts (below his usual high standards). Looking at his Genworth Statistics since the beginning of August, the 30 year old Italian golfer ranks 23rd for Driving Accuracy and 19th for Greens in Regulation (very solid), but he seems to be struggling a little on and around the greens (Scrambling 40/82 times with just 6/23 Sand Saves over the sample). In contrast to his fellow country man, if Francesco’s short game sharpens up this week, we are likely to see a big improvement in his performance.

Gonzalo Fdez-Castaño has competed in this event 4 times before (winning in 2007 and also last year) and he arrives with finishes of 38th / 96th / 8th / 49th from his last four starts. Looking at his Genworth Statistics since the beginning of August, the 32 year old Spanish golfer is driving the ball long off the tee but he ranks quite low for both Driving Accuracy and Greens in Regulation, which is producing the same trend of higher Par 4 Scoring and fewer birdies as with Manassero (Gonzalo has also played the tougher events on very difficult courses). The short game is looking pretty sharp though, so a good driving week may push him up into contention for a third Italian title.

Simon Dyson has competed in this event once before (in 2010) and he arrives in superb form with finishes of 28th / 18th / 22nd / 3rd from his last four starts. Looking at his Genworth Statistics since the beginning of August, the 35 year old English golfer is performing very well from tee to green, ranking 16th for Driving Accuracy and 9th for Greens in Regulation, plus his short game is also in great shape, ranking 8th for Scrambling and in the mid-ranks for each putting category (good combinations). This overall consistency is leading to a ranking of 1st out of all the players for Bogeys per Round, 2nd for Par 4 Scoring and 9th for overall Stroke Average.

Bernd Wiesberger has competed in this event 3 times before (with a best of 15th in 2011) and he arrives with finishes of 88th / 4th / 74th from his last three starts. Looking at his Genworth Statistics since the beginning of August, the 27 year old Austrian golfer is driving the ball miles off the tee (averaging a huge 315 yards), in doing so setting himself up with good opportunities to hit lots of greens (77.1% of them to be exact) as well as a quarter of the Par 5 greens in sub-regulation two shots. With a small improvement to the short stick this week, the current world number 59 may be up there come Sunday.

Brooks Koepka competes in this event for the first time, arriving with finishes of 70th / 28th / 18th / 7th / 22nd from his last five starts. Looking at his Genworth Statistics since the beginning of August, the 23 year old golfer from the USA is driving it miles, the same as Wiesberger (it would be an interesting long driving competition between the two players), and as a result he is hitting 27.9% of the Par 5 greens in sub-regulation two shots and converting more Eagles per Round than most (7 in total over the 20 rounds sample). For those that don’t know, Brooks won three European Challenge Tour events earlier this year which provided him with automatic promotion to the European Tour.

Grégory Bourdy has competed in this event 7 times before (with a best of 3rd last year) and he arrives with finishes of 23rd / WIN / 44th from his last three starts. Looking at his Genworth Statistics since the beginning of August, the 31 year old French golfer is performing exceptionally well from tee to green, ranking high in each of the long game statistics. That consistency is enabling him to convert lots of birdies and make comparatively few mistakes, scoring well across the different hole types (Par 3’s / Par 4’s / Par 5’s). It all leads to an overall Stroke Average ranking of 10th.

Rafa Cabrera-Bello has competed in this event 5 times before (with a best of 9th last year) and he arrives with finishes of 29th / 35th / 15th / 46th from his last four starts. Looking at his Genworth Statistics since the beginning of August, the 29 year old Spanish golfer seems to be playing steady golf without firing on all cylinders, hitting lots of greens but perhaps not converting enough putts to create that tournament winning momentum. Considering that there is plenty of room for improvement, the two time European Tour winner still ranks 37th for Stroke Average, and has another gear he can move up to.

Grégory Havret has competed in this event 11 times before (winning in 2001) and he arrives with finishes of 35th / CUT / 7th / 3rd from his last four starts. Looking at his Genworth Statistics since the beginning of August, the 36 year old French golfer has played a slightly easier schedule of recent events than some of the other players featured in this preview report. But even so he is looking strong across the board, ranking very well for the long game categories, the putting categories and also the different hole types (Par 3’s / Par 4’s / Par 5’s). With a recent Stroke Average of 69.07 and a current Race to Dubai position of 63rd, Grégory has everything to play for as we head towards the Final Series.

Søren Kjeldsen has competed in this event 12 times before (with a best of 4th in 2006) and he arrives with finishes of CUT / 3rd / 54th / 8th from his last four starts. Looking at his Genworth Statistics since the beginning of August, the 38 year old Danish golfer is also one of the form players (again having played a slightly easier schedule leading up to this week), ranking 32nd for Greens in Regulation, 3rd for Bogeys per Round and 6th for Par 3 Scoring (it’s always a good sign when players score under Par on the short holes). With a current Race to Dubai position of 58th the three time European Tour winner also has everything to play for as we head towards the season ending Final Series.