The clock continues to tick as there are just two stops remaining on the DP World Tour before the start of the end-of-the-season DP World Tour Play-Offs.
One of those stops includes this week’s Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucia Masters at the Real Club de Sotogrande in Andalucia, Spain.
Last year’s edition of this tournament also took place at the Real Club de Sotogrande but prior, it was held at the Valderrama. Due to LIV Golf acquiring it as a venue for the 2023 season, Valderrama was removed from the DP World Tour’s rotation.
As previously mentioned, this week serves as the penultimate stop on the DP World Tour’s 2024 season before the kickoff of the playoffs. Next week’s Genesis Championship in South Korea will serve as the final stop.
The Field
This week’s field is headlined by non-other than Jon Rahm. We last saw Rahm at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship where he finished T7th. The last time he played in Spain, a few weeks back at the Open de Espana, he fell in a playoff to Angel Hidalgo.
Beyond Rahm, there are a few other notable names that play regularly on the PGA Tour or LIV Golf Tours as well.
Matt Wallace, Thorbjorn Olesen and Victor Perez lead the field of PGA Tour regulars.
Rahm’s fellow countryman and LIV Golf player, David Puig, too will be teeing it up this week. Puig has been red hot on the DP World Tour, placing T4th at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and T3rd at the Open de Espana.
Of course, as the DP World Tour Play-offs are quickly approaching, the best of the European based Tour too will be in attendance. Some notable names include Rasmus Hojgaard, Niklas Norgaard, Thriston Lawrence, Jordan Smith, Tom Mckibbin and Matteo Manassero.
Adrian Meronk held off Matti Schmid a season ago to claim victory here. Meronk will not be back this week to defend his title.
Adrian Otaegui (2022) is the only former winner of this event playing in this week’s event.
The Course
We have just one year of data to go off of this week as last year was the first year that the Real Club de Sotogrande was played on the DP World Tour.
Real Club de Golf Sotogrande in San Roque, Andalucia, Spain plays as a Par 72 at 7,099 yards.
This course was actually the first track designed by legendary course designer Robert Trent Jones in Europe.
It was opened in 1964 and quickly became a notable track, hosting the Open de Espana just two years later.
A complete restoration of the course was agreed in 2011, spearheaded by Roger Rulewich who worked for 35 years as Jones’ right-hand man. He was joined by David Fleury as the course was restored to its original design.
In this restoration, bunkers were modernized, 37 hectares were turfed with Certified 419 Bermuda which was laid on the fairways and rough. The fairways were also reshaped and the greens were reduced back to their original size.
It was reported that throughout the years prior to the restoration, the greens had increased by almost 45-percent over the years.
The fairways featured this week are wide and receptive. There is no risk off the tee as this course is described as a ‘second shot’ track.
The greens are delicately molded and are very fast. Putting will be at a premium this week.
The greens are also heavily guarded by bunkers as 69 of the 100 bunkers featured on this course surround the greens.
Water is in play on a number of holes by virtue of the man-made lakes that are littered amongst the course.
Going along with the typical Jones’ designs, there are a few holes that are true risk-reward holes.
Holes four and seven on the front nine and holes 13 and 15 on the back nine are good examples of this. These holes will play as the toughest holes on the course and players will have to choose to grind out a difficult par or an easy bogey.
There are four attackable par-fives featured this week that must be taken advantage of by any hopeful winner. There are a few short par-fours featured this week as well.
The Weather
As of the time of writing this, there is a zero-percent chance of precipitation across all four days this week. Temperatures will range between 69-degrees to 73-degrees across all four days as well. Winds will begin at the highest on Thursday at 16 miles-per-hour before falling to 13-or-14 miles-per-hour on both Friday and Saturday before finishing at just six miles-per-hour come Sunday. Forecasts are calling for a significant chance of precipitation from Monday through Wednesday leading into the event. We’ll see if Thursday plays a bit softer because of that.
Key Stats
Strokes Gained: Approach (SG: APP)
Greens in Regulation Percentage (GIR%)
Sand Saves Percentage
Strokes Gained: Putting (SG: PUTT)
Strokes Gained: Around the Green (SG: ATG)
Par Five Average Soring
Birdie or Better Percentage
Bogey Avoidance
Scrambling
Betting Card
Thorbjorn Olesen (+2200)
After a disappointing first season on the PGA Tour, Olesen has returned to the DP World Tour following the completion of the 2024 PGA Tour season to find some form. Last week at the FedEx Open de France, Olesen finished T2nd and prior to that, placed T12th at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. Looking past his missed cut at the BMW PGA Championship, Olesen also placed T12th at the Amgren Irish Open and T33rd at the Betfred British Masters. Olesen is currently second on Tour in SG: PUTT, third in sand saves percentage, fifth in par five average scoring, ninth in birdie or better percentage, 20th in SG: ATG, 22nd in scrambling, 53rd in SG: APP and 59th in GIR%. He also placed T9th in this event a season ago. Olesen is a seasoned veteran of the DP World Tour with eight victories. He knows how to cross the finish line.
David Puig (+2500)
Puig is one of the more interesting players in the world of professional golf. He was a collegiate standout at Arizona State University where he left to directly move to LIV Golf in 2022. He hasn’t found a ton of success on LIV but we all know the potential is there. He won the collegiate Southwestern Invitational in back-to-back seasons. He was a 2018 member of the Junior Ryder Cup for Team Europe and also placed third in the 2021 European Amateur. He’s also played twice on the DP World Tour recently, where he finished T3rd at the Open de Espana and most recently T4th at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. He’s back on home soil looking for a victory.
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (+5000)
The 25-year-old Dane has been in some insane form across both the DP World Tour and Challenge Tour coming into this week. He placed T18th at least week’s FedEx Open de France and prior to that placed T4th at the Dunhill Links Championship in what may arguably be the toughest DP World Tour field of the season. He also placed T13th at the Open de Espana and T19th at the Danish Golf Championship. On the Challenge Tour, he won the Big Green Egg German Challenge in early July. He also won the UAE Challenge and Kolkata Challenge earlier this year. Additionally, he has 11 top 25 finishes on the Challenge Tour with seven top tens and a runner-up finish to go along with the three victories. On the DP World Tour he is currently 11th in sand saves percentage, 12th in GIR%, 23rd in bogey avoidance, 39th in scrambling, 54th in birdie or better percentage, 67th in SG: APP, 82nd in SG: PUTT, 105th in SG: ATG and 136th in par five average scoring.
Aaron Cockerill (+12000)
Cockerill is currently 17th on Tour in par five average scoring, 20th in SG: ATG, 21st in SG: PUTT, 28th in sand saves percentage, 38th in bogey avoidance, 49th in GIR%, 57th in birdie or better percentage, 78th in scrambling and 110th in SG: APP. The Canadian is fresh off a T13th at last week’s FedEx Open de France. He also placed T35th at the BMW PGA Championship, T9th at the Amgen Irish Open and T47th at the Omega European Masters.
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