Following New Zealander, Daniel Hillier’s breakthrough success at The Belfry in last week’s Betfred British Masters, attention on the DP World Tour now turns to Denmark. Jamie Worsley is here with his preview and six picks for the weekend. 

Made in HimmerLand 2023 Tips

• 1.5 pts Ewen Ferguson each way (1/5 – 7 places) – 33/1 
• 1.5 pts Pablo Larrazabal each way (1/5 – 8 places) – 35/1 
• 1 pt Guido Migliozzi each way (1/5 – 7 places) – 60/1 
• 1 pt Richie Ramsay each way (1/5 – 8 places) – 66/1
  
• 1 pt Jeff Winther each way (1/5 – 7 places) – 90/1
• 1 pt Renato Paratore each way (1/5 – 7 places) – 100/1

With just two weeks to go until the Open Championship, the tour heads to HimmerLand Resort’s New Course for the Made in HimmerLand, where along with trying to take home the title, players will be competing for three available spots into that final major of the year.

Tournament History

The Made in HimmerLand (previously Denmark) has been a fixture on the DP World Tour schedule since 2014, excluding 2020 due to covid; taking place here at HimmerLand in all but one edition, with Silkeborg Ry Golfklub hosting the event in 2018.

Scotland’s Marc Warren won the inaugural tournament in 2014, shooting -9 to defeat Bradley Dredge by two strokes; who finished 2^nd again in 2016, this time losing out to Thomas Pieters.

Slotting in between those was a win for David Horsey in 2015, who then went on to finish 2^nd two years later, as Julian Suri ran out an impressive four-stroke winner; firing a then record -19 in the event.

Matt Wallace won the 2018 edition at Silkeborg, with Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger following by winning in 2019, though he had to wait two years to defend his title as the 2020 tournament was cancelled.

After a two-year wait, Wiesberger retained the championship and in emphatic fashion; a winning score of -21 gaining him a five-shot success over Guido Migliozzi in 2^nd.

Last year’s championship went the way of Oliver Wilson, who equalled Wiesberger’s winning score and continued a strong record for British players in the event.

Wilson returns to defend this week and is in good form, after finishing 2^nd at the Belfry last week. However he will have a particularly strong home contingent – which includes both Hojgaard twins – attempting to deny him a repeat success this week.

The Course

HimmerLand Resort’s New Course was designed in 1993, though went through a complete redesign in 2011. Aside from hosting this event since 2014, it has hosted many on the Challenge Tour over the years – most recently in 2018 in the Made in Denmark Challenge – whilst it is also a regular stop on the Nordic Golf League schedule. However, this year represents the final time it will be hosting this event.

The New Course can actually stretch out to beyond 7300 yards, though has used much shorter setups in this event. This year it will play as a par 70, measuring a meagre 6646 yards; the 8^th hole being converted from a short par 5 to a lengthy par 4 the most significant change.

The course is packed with risk/reward opportunities. This no more evident than on the par 4s, where there are three that will be potentially drivable throughout the week – the shortest of which is the 284-yard 14^th – and just two at over 460 yards; one above 480.

There’s a significant contrast across the two par 5s, with the 491-yard 5^th countered by the huge 645-yard 11^th hole.

The par 3s are largely scorable and contain the course’s signature 16^th hole; a tiny par 3 that will play under 100 yards at some point throughout the week. With the green surrounded by fans, it usually provides plenty of excitement, especially as those in contention look for a birdie on Sunday.

Though there are a few trees dotted about, the course is largely exposed and with some deep bunkering, steep mounds and fescue rough in-play, it certainly has a bit of a linksy feel about it.

The undulating fairways look wide though have proven rather difficult to find over recent years, with fairway bunkers often cutting into and just plainly in the middle of many of them. This makes the landing areas much smaller and sees HimmerLand possess some of the lowest driving accuracy percentages on the DP World Tour since 2019.

The rough – which can get pretty severe should you start veering too far off line – then puts added pressure on your ability to find these average-in-size but tricky greens. They are protected by run-off areas and penal bunkers, many of which sit well below the level of the greens.

Elevation changes ask further questions of your ball-striking, whilst water is in-play on around 1/3 of the holes around HimmerLand’s New Course, providing additional danger.

Having said that, as we’ve seen in recent years with the two consecutive -21 winning scores, if the wind doesn’t blow, this short course can be there for the taking. Though equally as evident – particularly in that first edition in 2014 – if weather plays its part, this exposed course can soon become a serious challenge.

The Stats

Key Stats:

• SG: Approach
• Greens-in-Regulation
• SG: Putting
• Scrambling
• Sand Saves
• Par 4 Scoring

The beauty of a course like this is that it gives everyone a chance and we’ve seen many types enjoy success in the event, showing varying skillsets. Though this can make it difficult to rule out much of the field, there are some areas which I feel will be of extra importance.

Conditions are a mixed bag this week, with some days looking scoreable and others looking key just to hang on. However, the course will likely be receptive, which causes me to put emphasis on strong iron players.

We only have strokes-gained data available for the latest three renewals but they are pretty conclusive in terms of the necessity of quality approach play around here.

Oliver Wilson was the 8^th-best iron-player in the field last year when winning, whilst runner-up Ewen Ferguson ranked 2^nd.

Bernd Wiesberger excelled most in approach in each of his victories, ranking 3^rd in approach in both 2021 and 2019. With his nearest challengers in those years, Guido Migliozzi and Robert MacIntyre, ranking 10^th and 11^th respectively.

2017 winner, Julian Suri and 2016 winner, Thomas Pieters offering further proof of how quality approach players can enjoy success at HimmerLand.

The putter has engineered many strong performances too. Oliver Wilson ranked 9^th on the greens last year, whilst it was the club that 3^rd-place finisher, Kristian Krogh Johannessen most excelled, ranking 3^rd.

Guido Migliozzi was 5^th on the greens when 2^nd in 2021, whilst Richard Bland in 3^rd, was the 2^nd-best putter in the field. Robert MacIntyre and Romain Langasque – who finished 2^nd and 3^rd in 2019 – ranked top 5 on the greens; both of those players also scrambled excellently, MacIntyre ranking 3^rd and Langasque 1^st.

This need to scramble well is another common factor here, as we saw with Ewen Ferguson leading the scrambling stats last year, whilst Jason Scrivener and Richard Bland ranked top 4 in 2021. General scrambling ability with quality bunker play looking most beneficial.

Finally, with the volume and variety of such holes on the course, players who score best on the par 4s should fare better than most in the field this week.

Correlating Events (Courses)

Open de France (Le Golf National)

By far the most plentiful form-ties this week came from Le Golf National and the Open de France. No surprise considering it’s another largely exposed course that provides a similarly difficult ball-striking test to this week.

Bernd Wiesberger has won both events; Guido Migliozzi won there last year after finishing 2^nd to Wiesberger here in 2021; Pablo Larrazabal another past Open de France winner with a good record here, with a best of 4^th.

Other past HimmerLand winners with good performances to their name in France are Julian Suri (2^nd), Thomas Pieters (3^rd) and Oliver Wilson (9^th). The likes of Alexander Bjork and Adrian Otaegui offer added form-ties, whilst Daniel Gaunt, who finished 2^nd in Denmark in 2015, has a 15^th there – one of his other top DPWT performances.

BMW International Open (Golfclub Munchen Eichenried)

Though Golfclub Munchen Eichenried is a more tree-lined course, it is only loosely so and has plenty of space throughout. It possesses almost identical greens-in-regulation, scrambling and putting stats to HimmerLand, resulting in some interesting form-ties.

David Horsey has won both events and Pablo Larrazabal is a two-time winner in Germany. Bernd Wiesberger and Thomas Pieters have both finished top 5 there; Bradley Dredge has a 3^rd to go with his two runners-up here; Daniel Gaunt and Guido Migliozzi both with top 10s.

Soudal Open (Rinkven International)

Rinkven is another of the DP World Tour’s shortest courses and possesses similar averages to HimmerLand in GIR and short-game difficulty.

Both Adrian Otaegui and Guido Migliozzi won at the course when it hosted the Belgian Knockout; Ewen Ferguson and Alexander Bjork have finished top 4 there; Jeff Winther, Marcel Siem and Soren Kjeldsen amongst those with form at both courses.

Qatar Masters (Doha Golf Club)

Doha Golf Club hosted the now defunct Qatar Masters and with its exposed setup, has seen many enjoy crossover form with HimmerLand. Whilst it also possesses comparable averages in scrambling and GIR.

Past Made in HimmerLand winners, Oliver Wilson and Marc Warren have finished 2^nd there and Bernd Wiesberger has finished 3^rd; whilst Ewen Ferguson has won in Qatar, as has Eddie Pepperell, who has finished 4^th in Denmark.

Bradley Dredge has recorded two top 5s at Doha GC; the Spanish duo of Pablo Larrazabal and Adrian Otaegui have recorded top 5 finishes there.

2019 British Masters/2022 Cazoo Classic (Hillside Golf Club)

Finally I’m going to finish with Hillside Golf Club. A short links course that has developed some solid form-ties with HimmerLand, despite only staging the two recent DPWT events.

Robert MacIntyre has finished 2^nd at both and Eddie Pepperell also has a good record at Hillside, recording finishes of 2^nd and 11^th in the two events there.

Julien Guerrier has two top 15s in three starts in Denmark and has finished 3^rd at Hillside, Oliver Wilson has recorded a top 10 there; Pablo Larrazabal, Angel Hidalgo and Jordan Smith with form across both courses.

The Weather

The course should be soft this week, with rain forecast throughout the week of the event. This is accompanied by some strong winds over the opening couple of days, which should cause serious problems around this exposed course. Though I’d expect birdies to flow as that dies down over the weekend.

The Field

Pablo Larrazabal heads the field this week as our top-ranked player at #56 in the world; joined by a further four from inside the top 100: #89 Adrian Otaegui, #91 Thorbjorn Olesen, #93 Jordan Smith and #99 Yannik Paul.

Olesen leads a really strong home contingent who will be hoping to record a first win in this event for the Danes. These include both Nicolai and Rasmus Hojgaard; along with last week’s British Masters contender Niklas Norgaard and exciting, new-pro, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen.

Oliver Wilson returns to defend and is one of just three former winners in attendance with 2017 winner, Julian Suri and 2014 champion, Marc Warren.

Selections

As with most weeks on the DP World Tour, this market looks wide open and it’s tough to rule many out. Alexander Bjork heads the betting at 16/1, followed by the Danish duo of Thorbjorn Olesen and Nicolai Hojgaard at 18s.

Though all of their chances are with merit, as are most at around 20/1, I think there’s a bit of value a little further down the betting in a couple of players who have some good recent form, are proven winners and have a good record here, starting with Ewen Ferguson.

1.5 pts Ewen Ferguson each way (1/5 – 7 places)

After winning twice on the DPWT last year, the Scot was a little slow to get going in 2023, as he failed to break into the top 25 in his opening six starts. However, he turned that around with a 3^rd in the SDC Championship in South Africa and has largely been in good form since.

Ferguson immediately backed up that 3^rd-place finish with a 4^th on his next start, then adding a third top 10 of 2023 when 8^th in the KLM Open three starts later.

Another solid effort when 14^th in the Porsche European Open followed and after missed cuts in the Scandinavian Mixed and BMW International Open on his next two starts, Ferguson bounced back into form last week at the Belfry, where he finished 4^th.

Ferguson’s form during this run has been engineered by quality approach play and putting, ranking 16^th and 28^th in those two areas over the last twenty rounds. This is representative of his year as a whole, as he ranks 25^th in approach and a solid 68^th on the greens; complimenting these stats by being 11^th in greens-in-regulation, 25^th out of the bunkers and top 50 in scrambling and par 4 scoring – a strong statistical profile for HimmerLand.

He showed his suitability for this test when finishing 2^nd on debut here last year, whilst as a winner in Qatar and possessing a 3^rd-place finish at Rinkven, he has some tasty correlating form to boot.

That win in Qatar in windy conditions was the first of two for Ferguson last year, as he followed up with a win in Northern Ireland later in 2022, another plus as to his ability to handle whatever is thrown at him this week in terms of the conditions. Against some players who have found winning much tougher than him, he looks good value to go one better than last year’s effort this week.

1.5 pts Pablo Larrazabal each way (1/5 – 8 places)

Speaking of value, Pablo Larrazabal has two wins in his last five starts and four in the last 16 months on the DP World Tour. Combined with his good record here, his attractive book of correlating form and ranking 1^st in my model for this week’s event, the Spaniard looks an excellent price to mop up his third win of the year this week.

Pablo had been showing positive signs before bagging those two wins, missing just one of his first six cuts of the year and recording a top 10 in India. He turned that promise into a win in Korea, then winning in the Netherlands three starts ago, just two events after his win in the Far East.

On paper, his form looks inconsistent, as amongst those two wins, he’s missed a cut and recorded finishes of just 52^nd and 66^th over his last five starts. However, two of those starts came in majors – easy to forgive – whilst last-time-out in the BMW International Open, he had an uncharacteristically poor week with his short game, though that was following his missed cut in the US Open and I’m not overly concerned. Not least because his irons looked in good form.

This has very much been the case for Larrazabal this season, as he ranks 28^th on the DPWT in approach and typically compliments that with one of the best short games on tour; ranking 5^th in scrambling, 23^rd in sand saves and 27^th on the greens this season.

These assets have driven Larrazabal to building a strong record at HimmerLand. He finished 4^th on debut in 2019, following with a 19^th in 2021 before missing the cut last year because of a rare poor putting week.

We have added proof that his game is tailored well to this test from a large collection of correlating form that includes two wins in the BMW International Open, multiple top 5s in Qatar and a top 10 at Hillside. Further strengthening his uber-strong case to take home the trophy this week.

1 pt Guido Migliozzi each way (1/5 – 7 places)

Despite his final-round struggles at The Belfry last week, Guido Migliozzi showed his game is going in the right direction and in this weaker field at a bigger price, he looks well worth another shot at a place he finished 2^nd in 2021.

After entering the final round there in a share of the lead, Migliozzi shot a calamitous 7-over 43 on his front nine which completely did for his chances. However, he composed himself well to shoot -2 on his back nine to finish 28^th and I find it easy to forgive a rough nine holes that spiralled out of control considering he looked strong in every area of his game across the rest of the week. Especially considering this was a second promising performance on the bounce after finishing 10^th in the BMW International Open the previous week.

Migliozzi has looked good in each area across those starts, with his ball-striking under much better control, though it’s the putter that still shines most, ranking 21^st in this field over the last twenty rounds.

Indeed it was largely the putter that engineered his 2^nd-place finish at HimmerLand in 2021, though he did hit the ball well enough too. As he did on his debut at the course when 33^rd in 2019, with the putter once again the key area of his game when 35^th last year.

That form at the course looks strong alone and we can find more evidence of him being the correct fit for this course in wins in the Open de France last year and at Rinkven in 2019.

Migliozzi showed a great attitude to fight back on his back nine last week on what would’ve been a hugely disappointing day and I’m hoping he can carry that same attitude to Denmark this week.

1 pt Richie Ramsay each way (1/5 – 8 places)

Richie Ramsay’s best form this year has all come over his last four starts. With the irons looking largely sound and his scrambling stats amongst the best on tour this year, he can improve on his already solid record here to put up a true contending performance this week.

Ramsay won for the first time in seven years last year, in the Cazoo Classic at Hillside. His form at the start of 2023 was underwhelming, recording just one top 40 in his first eight starts but his results have taken a real turn for the better over the last two months.

The Scot recorded his then best finish of the year when 7^th in the Soudal Open, then following a top 40 in the KLM Open with a 5^th-place finish in the Scandinavian Mixed – his best finish of the year so far; before a top 50 at The Belfry last week.

This turnaround in form has largely been down to his approach play, as he ranks 12^th in this field over the last twenty rounds; ranking 45^th for the season as a whole and is 20^th in GIR. A ranking of 16^th in scrambling, as well as 31^st in par 4 scoring give me added confidence he has the game for this challenge.

This has somewhat been on show here, as in five starts at HimmerLand, Ramsay has missed just one cut and recorded a best of 12^th in 2019.

That win at Hillside further strengthens his case, as do multiple 5^th-place finishes in the Open de France and two top 15s in the Soudal Open the last two years. All suggesting that Ramsay has what it takes to go even better than his previous best finish here.

1 pt Jeff Winther each way (1/5 – 7 places)

Jeff Winther produced his best approach performance in over 18 months when 8^th in the British Masters last week and if able to carry that over into this week, looks well-placed for another good performance in front of a home crowd at HimmerLand.

Winther started the year pretty well, finishing 17^th in Abu Dhabi on his first start of 2023 and following up with another top 25 in Singapore two starts later. His form dropped following that, as he missed his next six cuts in a row before that return to form at The Belfry last week.

He ranked 6^th in the field there in approach, complimenting that with a strong putting week, ranking 12^th. These are two areas in which he’s been pretty solid overall this season, ranking inside the top 60 and ranking as the 26^th-best player out of bunkers this season, his game looks a good fit for HimmerLand.

This has looked to be the case in his starts at the course on the DPWT. He finished 18th on debut here in 2016 and has recorded two further top 20s, when 18^th again in 2019 and 15^th last year.

A good record at Rinkven, where he’s finished 3^rd and a top 10 in France give added encouragement and if able to replicate the quality he showed in approach and on the greens last week, Winther can deliver his best finish to date in this event.

1 pt Renato Paratore each way (1/5 – 7 places)

I’m going to sign off the week with Renato Paratore. He’s been very consistent on the DPWT this year and if able to continue the recent improvements he’s shown with his irons, he looks set for a big week in Denmark.

In his eight DPWT starts this year, Paratore has missed just one cut and has made his last five in a row. The finishes have been solid enough over that time, with three of them top 40s, but he’d have been hoping to make a little noise near the top of the leaderboard; something I’m expecting him to achieve this week.

The putter has, as ever, been the biggest strength within Paratore’s game, as he ranks 24^th on tour this season and 9^th over the last twenty rounds. He’s also scrambling well, but it’s his often erratic approach play that has caught the eye of late.

Over those most recent performances, Paratore has gained strokes in two in approach, with the only real poor performance coming in the Scandinavian Mixed. This results in the Italian ranking as the 57^th best iron player in this field on most recent form, which whilst not looking overly impressive is a huge upgrade on his ranking when taking into account the last two years, where he’d rank 114^th in this field.

He has a mixed bag of results at HimmerLand, though did go well in 2016, finishing 18^th. I think he’s capable of not just matching that but improving on it, with some strong correlating form providing the confidence, as he’s recorded a 4^th in Qatar, 6^th in the BMW International and 8^th at Hillside.

Paratore won in this part of the world for his breakthrough win in the 2017 Nordea Masters and as a player who has been at his best on shorter, more fiddly courses, despite his often erratic ball-striking, he looks a potential contender this week.

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