Lyoness Open Powered by Greenfinity
Diamond Country Club (Atzenbrugg, Austria)
Purse: €1,500,000
Yardage: 7,417
The Australian-born Englishman finished T24 last week in the Nordea Masters. The 38-year-old finished T32 at this event last year and seems to play well when he gets into a European Tour event. Having Category 16 membership as a result of finishing 26th on the Challenge Tour last year, he'll get into 5-6 more main tour events for the remainder of the season. He's already played four events on the main tour so far, with Sweden being the first cut he made. I expect him to play well this week based off his play last week and his ability to play well in European Tour events when given the opportunity.
Andrew Marshall (Race to Dubai: 205th, Challenge Tour: 80th)
The 41-year-old Englishman made every cut on the Challenge Tour last season en route to finishing 38th on the money list. Known as a great ball-striker, Marshall needs to putt a little better in events where the scoring is good. His form leading into this event is not good, having missed his last three cuts. He finished T14 at this event last season. He shot a pair of 75s last week in Sweden to miss the cut. Marshall should gain entry into 3-4 main tour events after this event but needs to play better on the Challenge Tour in order to make it inside the top 15 to get a main Tour card for next season.
Phillip Archer (Challenge Tour: 42nd)
The 43-year-old Englishman missed the cut last week in Sweden after shooting rounds of 75 and 77. Archer has admitted to being more focused when playing on the main tour and will need to take advantage of that this week. He finished T62 at this event last year. He finished T3 on the Challenge Tour in early May but has missed his last three cuts. Like Marshall, he needs to putt better in events like this where the scoring will be pretty good. I have a feeling that this could be the three-time Challenge Tour winner's last season on the developmental circuit if he doesn't gain full Tour rights. He needs to take advantage of the 5-6 more starts on the main tour and play well in the right events on the Challenge Tour.
Andrew McArthur (Race to Dubai: 169th, Challenge Tour: 6th)
The 36-year-old Scotsman is playing some good golf at the moment. He's made every cut this season and has already earned more euros on the main tour this season than he did all of last season (€47,459 versus €40,587). He's played in four main tour events and has a similar category ranking as last season when he played in nine European Tour events. I would be shocked if he didn't finish inside the top 15 on the Challenge Tour this season. Actually, if he keeps playing well, he might make enough money to finish inside the top 110 on the main tour. He's currently the sixth-ranked Scot in the Official World Golf Rankings at 258th. I expect him to play well this week and continue his good form, despite missing the cut at this venue last year.
Kenneth Ferrie
The 38-year-old Englishman has played one European Tour event as a past champion (Open de Espana) and one Challenge Tour event (Challenge de Madrid) and missed the cut in both. The 6'5" man from North East England is a past champion at the Lyoness Open, which he won in 2011. His form has suffered over the past few seasons, but he did make the cut at the European Tour Qualifying School in November so that guarantees him entry into every Challenge Tour event and a small number of main tour events as well. It'll be interesting to see what events Ferrie plays in the rest of the season. He finished T25 at this event last season so I expect him to play decently well this week.
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