With our golf tipster Niall Lyons off this week, Sam Eaton switches from his usual First Round Leader picks to preview the outright market for the Kenya Savannah Classic.
Kenya Savannah Classic - Winner
The Kenya Savannah Classic takes place less than 48-hours after the Kenya Open finished at the exact same course, which will throw off a lot of punters this week.
The main difference from last week is the rough won’t be cut between events which will make driving accuracy slightly more important than it was at the Kenya Open. That said, neither Harding or Kitayama ranked well in driving accuracy last week.
Driving distance is largely irrelevant due to the course being at altitude. The key stats to take out of last week and the 2019 Kenya Open are putting, hitting greens in regulation and scrambling.
Even though last week will give a few early clues for the Kenya Savannah Classic, it’s worth noting this will be third time the European Tour has staged a competition at the same venue two weeks in a row. The previous two times were the Wales Open and Cyprus Showdown, on both occasions there was no real indication that players who played well the week before would repeat
Johannes Veerman at 30/1 (7 places)
Johannes Veerman is usually one of the best putters on the European Tour, however, he was let down by that asset last week at the Kenya Open. Even with his putter being completely off he managed to finish T16 after shooting 73 on Sunday. Veerman is normally considered as a putting robot, but he three-putted on a regular basis at the weekend which is largely unheard of. If he corrects his then he has every chance of challenging. There will obviously be a bit of mental fatigue following that shocking round, but the rest of his game was in a decent place and we know he’s a stand-out putter on the Tour.
Johannes Veerman 1pt e/w 30/1 (7 places)
Aaron Rai at 25/1 (7 places)
I was pretty keen on Aaron Rai last week, the Englishman was fifth in terms of Greens in Regulation in 2020, and 25th for scrambling. This should be a course that fits his game.
Rai shot a 66 on Sunday which moved him into T24, he was also one of the leading players in terms of driving accuracy last week which will be more beneficial going into the Kenya Savannah Classic. It was Rai’s putter which let him down last week, although he’s not regarded as the best putter on the tour, he’s certainly better than that showing.
Aaron Rai at 25/1 (7 places)
