The European Tour returns to Russia for the first time since 2008. The M2M Russian Open will be staged at the Tseleevo Golf & Polo Club in the Moscow Region (located 40 miles from Moscow). The Jack Nicklaus-designed course was opened in 2007. The 7,491-yard, par 72, layout is described as a mix of parkland and tree-lined.
The tournament is held at a bad time in the schedule, as it is the week after the Open Championship and a week before the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. All of the players competing in the United States for the WGC and the PGA Championship the following week will be skipping this week's event in Russia. That being said, there are numerous European Tour winners in the field, to go along with Tour rookies and veterans. The tournament has a €1,000,000 purse (€166,660 to the winner) and also carries a one-year exemption on Tour to the winner.
Sweden's Mikael Lundberg has won this event twice, in 2005 and 2008. Although the tournament has not been staged since '08, Lundberg is essentially the defending champion.
The field includes notables such as Michael Campbell, Jeev Milkha Singh, Soren Kjeldsen, Simon Dyson, Robert Rock, Tom Lewis, David Horsey, Michael Hoey, Gregory Havret, Tommy Fleetwood, Romain Wattel, Soren Hansen, and Gagangeet Bhullar. In addition, former #1-ranked tennis player Yevgeni Kafelnikov will be contesting his national open, still looking for his first made cut on either the European or Challenge Tours in his professional golf career.
Interestingly, there are only two players in the field who competed at the Open Championship: Shiv Kapur, who led for most of the first round only to finish in a tie for 73rd at +15, and Richard McEvoy, who missed the cut with rounds of 73 and 82 for a score of +13.
For me, the tournament favorites should include Dyson, Fleetwood, Rock, Hoey, and Wattel.
Dyson is coming off a T5 in the Alstom Open de France (his first top-10 since the Irish Open last year) and a T12 at the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open in consecutive weeks. The Englishman has been holing more putts, which was the key because his ball-striking has been so good all season.
Fleetwood, who stands at 62nd in the Race to Dubai, is a long hitter who has had previous success on this course back when it hosted a Challenge Tour event.
Rock has had only two top-10s all season, but the most recent one came in the Irish Open four weeks ago where he finished T2 behind Paul Casey. The two-time Tour winner needs to develop some sort of consistency, and it all starts with his putter.
No one, with as much talent, has had a poorer season than Hoey. The Northern Irishman has missed nine cuts in 15 events, languishing at 142nd in the Race to Dubai. After recently becoming a father, his golf has improved over his past few events. An underrated four-time Tour winner, he seems to contend more often in smaller tournaments with so-called "weaker fields."
One of the great young Frenchmen on Tour, Wattel is still looking for his first Tour win. In a field where he'll be one of the favorites, this could very well be his week.
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