The ISPS Handa World Invitational: Ferguson Straight Hitting Works Well at This Week’s Main Venue

• The DP World Tour heads from Wales to Northern Ireland
• This is the final event of the ‘British Isles Summer Swing’
• The first 36 holes are staged across two courses

ISPS Handa World Invitational Odds

The odds for this tournament are provided by Caesars Sportsbook. Click on the odds below to head to Caesars Sportsbook and place a bet.

ISPS Handa World Invitational Our Picks

Ewen Ferguson won the Qatar Open and his straight hitting works well at this week’s main venue. Back the Scotsman for the win at +2000 with Caesars Sportsbook.

David Horsey was runner-up in this event last year and is finding lots of fairways. He can beat Oliver Farr in a 72-hole match bet at -110 with bet365.

Jens Dantorp has made the top 10 in seven of his last nine starts. Take the Swede for another top 10 at +300 with DraftKings Sportsbook.

Pick made on 08/09/2022 at 06:57 PM EST

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The DP World Tour concludes its ‘British Isles Summer Swing’ with a trip to Northern Ireland for the ISPS Handa World Invitational.

First things first, the format. The event is staged over two courses and runs concurrently alongside a tournament from the European Ladies Tour.

The two-course idea will be familiar to golf fans who have watched the Farmers Insurance Open down the years.

In that California event, Torrey Pines North and South share the first two rounds before the South hosts both weekend laps.

It’s a similar deal here. The players have one round at Galgorm Castle and one at Massereene Golf Club over the first two days. Then the action switches to Galgorm for the final 36 holes.

Note, a second cut takes place on Saturday evening, reducing the field to 35 and ties for the final lap.

Also note that, unlike the Scandinavian Mixed when men and women players were contesting the same tournament, there are separate prizes for both sexes here. In other words, this preview is focusing solely on the men’s event. 

In terms of the courses, as well as being used for three of the four rounds in this event in 2019 and 2021, Galgorm also staged all 72 holes of the Irish Open in September 2020.

It was also the sole course for the second tier Challenge Tour’s Northern Ireland Open between 2013 and 2020.

Galgorm is a parkland track (no linksland to be seen here) which opened in 1997 and features water in play on 13 holes. Driving Accuracy is considered important due to the thick rough.

Massereene is much older (1895) but also a parkland course. It’s shorter than Galgorm by around 200 yards so likely to yield lower scores.

Ferguson Can Fly High

It’s not often these days that Driving Accuracy is a key pointer but history and logic says finding the fairways this week is key.

I want a straight driver for my main pick so step forward Ewen Ferguson.

The Scot ranks 12th in Driving Accuracy on the DP World Tour this season and is 30th for Strokes Gained: Off The Tee so he’s a solid, straight hitter.

Those skills helped him win the Qatar Masters earlier this season and also bank a top 12 finish in last week’s Cazoo Open where he was 3rd for Driving Accuracy.

But it’s not just theory, Ferguson’s results at this week’s main venue show he has a liking for the venue.

He was seventh on his first visit to Galgorm in 2018 and tied 26th in 2019. And when it became a DP World Tour tournament in 2020, he posted tied 14th in the Irish Open.

Ferguson’s game looks in great shape to push for the title so back him at +2000 with Caesars Sportsbook.

Horsey Can Outscore Farr

We continued our streak of 72-hole match bet winners last week when Sean Crocker edged out Oliver Bekker by a shot. Both missed the cut but we’ll take it!

This week I’m going to take an Englishman to beat a Welshman and back David Horsey to outscore Oliver Farr.

Horsey’s main appeal is that he finished runner-up in this event last year.

But I also like the fact that he’s finding lots of fairways. Horsey was 5th for Driving Accuracy in the Cazoo Classic where he struggled on the weekend and 11th for DA last time when making the top 30 at the Hero Open in Scotland.

Landing on the short grass should really give him a head-start here.

Farr can be a straight hitter too but he found just 44.2% of the fairways on home turf at Celtic Manor last week and only broke 72 once.

This is his fifth straight week and that busy stretch also included qualifying for the Open and there’s a chance he’ll be short on gas after the extra emotion of playing in front of his own fans last time.

Farr’s results at this venue are patchy so Horsey, who has a strong record on tree-lined tracks, holds the aces.

Back Horsey to win their 72-holer pick’em at -110 with bet365.

Back Dantorp for a Top 10 

Jens Dantorp finally took a step backwards last week after a brilliant run.

But there’s no reason why the Swede can’t kick on again here at a venue he clearly likes.

Before Dantorp finished tied 67th at Celtic Manor he’d followed a win with six top 10s in his next seven starts.

Yes, most of that was at Challenge Tour level but tied eighth at the Cazoo Classic and tied fifth in the Hero Open showed he could make the step up and bring it to the DP World Tour too.

As for that course form at Galgorm, it reads: 6-15-34-21.

Top 10 for Driving Accuracy on his last three starts, Dentorp is a bet at +300 with DraftKings Sportsbook to land yet another top 10.

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