KLM Dutch Open Tips: Niall Lyons Preview, Odds & Tee Times

The KLM Open stays at Bernardus for the third year on the trot and it looks prudent to pay attention to links form. Perez and Fox fought out the finish last year in a playoff and they make up two of the last three winners of the Alfred Dunhill Links. That makes sense as this is certainly a links style golf course with a mixture of heathland thrown in.

Phillips has designed a handful of layouts that have been used for DPWT events, most notably Dundonald Links that held the 2017 Scottish Open and the Grove golf course where Alex Noren won the 2016 British Masters. Links specialists certainly seem to dominate those leaderboards and I'd be surprised should a few names in contention here on Sunday not have good results on similar tracks. 

Adrian Meronk at 16/1

Just what type of hangover Meronk and Perez might have from Oak Hill is anyone's guess but with Meronk still on the periphery of the Ryder Cup squad he can not afford to let up in his quest to join the team in September. After a win at Marco Simone many think he is nailed on for a pick at the very least but four months is a long time in golf and his form will need to hold up for an awful lot longer to make the grade.

The best way would be for him to qualify automatically and although that is a very tall order, solid efforts in these types of tournaments are necessary. 3rd here on debut last year was an extremely impressive effort and although he was eclipsed by Perez over the weekend in New York I expected the Pole to be favourite.

Having bagged the Irish, Australian and Italian Open championships all within the past year he will be looking to continue the trend with the Dutch version. Bernardus sets up perfectly for him, once again his distance off the tee being an asset as well as a superb short game to rescue him when his irons aren't quite firing.

He ranked 6th on approach play in his final round of 68 at Oak Hill on Sunday and ranked 24th in that category across the week and 8th off the tee. His usual impeccable short game let him down however and he wasn't able to finish any better than a tie for 40th. His long game was ominous though and he needs to keep the pedal down for the Ryder Cup. Automatic qualification is a real long shot but should he continue winning at this pace then he'll be as automatic as the likes of Rory. 

3pts win A.Meronk 16/1 (Betfred)

Ross Fisher at 70/1 (Eight Places)

The US Open qualifying last week at Walton Heath looks like ideal preparation for this test and given what was on the line for those players in that 36 hole event it can only serve to improve the chances of the successful candidates. A mixture of heath and links is ahead of the players this week and the qualifiers there must be hugely considered. Ross Fisher is an absolute no brainer this week after he shot 9 under across the 36 at Walton Heath to qualify for the US Open.

Big hitters tend to go well here and despite heading for 43 years of age Fisher is still one of the longer golfers from the tee on the tour. Last time out in Belgium his long game was superb ranking 2nd off the tee for the week and 10th on approach. 3rd from last around the greens and stone last with the putter scuppered any chances of him competing and he limped home in 50th place.

His long game was eye catching though and he clearly took that to Surrey last week and you'd assume his short game must have improved 10-fold to qualify there. He lay 8th after round 1 here last year and 13th after round 2 before a poor weekend saw him tumble down the leaderboard.

To further boost his profile he has three runner up finishes in the correlated Alfred Dunhill Links and if his short game was back in form last week then he's a very interesting runner at anything around 66/1 or above.

1.5pts each-way R.Fisher  70/1  1/5 8 (Bet365 each way extra)

Matthieu Pavon at 60/1 (Eight Places)

Tom McKibbin has had a tough time lately missing his last three cuts but could be worth keeping an eye on following a solid effort finishing 9th at Walton Heath last week. He was on the requisite number to qualify with ten holes to go only to play the remainder in 1 over par and miss out by a shot. He did secure an alternate spot for the US Open so his hope's aren't faded totally just yet.

His belting long game should suit this track and I'd have weighed in had he backed up his opening 65 at Walton Heath with something better than 72. One round isn't quite enough to suggest he has turned a corner. David Horsey is another one who could kick on from his effort last week but he may be up against it here with a lack of length off the tee.

Instead I'll opt for a maiden in the shape of Matthieu Pavon. The Frenchman is another qualifier from Walton Heath shooting two rounds of 68 to book his place at LA Country Club next month.

Previous to that he led at halfway in the Italian Open with his putter doing most of the work ranking second in the field that week on the greens. His long game wasn't the best though and he gave up a fair chance of winning by shooting a final round of 79. He's a nearly man for sure and his seasons are littered with solid efforts without getting over the line. He could consider himself unlucky not to win the Open De Espana last October shooting 19 under par and finishing runner up to the runaway winner Jon Rahm.

He has a 3rd placed finish on another Kyle Phillips design at Dundonald Links whilst runner ups in Portugal and Mauritius suggests he copes well in the wind. He is putting extremely well lately and you'd assume the long game took a step in the right direction once again last week at the US Open qualifying.

1pt each-way M.Pavon  60/1  1/5 8 (Bet365 each way extra)

Matti Schmid at 80/1 (Eight Places)

Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy and Matthew Fitzpatrick are just some of the names in recent history to win the Silver Medal at the Open Championship for leading amateur and the 2021 winner at Royal St George's is worthy of consideration here being dropped in class. It has already been a great year for German golf with Marcel Siem and Nick Bachem entering the winners enclosure and 25-year-old Matti Schmid may just continue that success at Bernardus.

There certainly hasn't been an awful lot to cheer since finishing 6th in the Californian desert back in January but must be noted two of his last three trips back to the DPWT have resulted in top ten finishes. One of those was back in December in South Africa where his 4th placed finish was an impressive effort in a field full of strong South Africans that included Burmester, Grace, Lawrence and Schwartzel.

That effort also came off the back of missing cuts at the WWT Championship in Mexico and the RSM in Georgia. 46th in Texas the week before the Masters was a fair effort given he didn't putt well and if he brought a similar long game to Holland this week he could make a mockery of triple figure prices.

He can consider himself an unlucky loser here back in 2021 finishing runner up to Broberg who blew the field away on the greens. He hits the ball a mile which is an advantage around here and I'm hoping like back in December that he can recover being dropped in class after a few missed cuts on the PGA Tour.

1pt each-way M.Schmid  80/1  1/5 8 (Bet365 each way extra)

Calum Hill at 75/1 (Eight Places)

A handful of years ago Calum Hill was one of the hottest prospects coming off a hugely successful stint on the Challenge Tour. It took him less than 18 months to land his first victory at the London Club winning the Cazoo Classic back in 2021. However, 2021 was as miserable as it gets with only three appearances following an insect bite led to infections which has in turn caused nerve damage. It caused his muscles to spasm when repeatedly used and golf was simply impossible.

On his return in January it only took two weeks to land a top 20 finishing 13th in the Dubai Desert Classic. 20th at Kenya followed then last month he went mighty close in Japan finishing one shot off the total set by Lucas Herbert and Aaron Cockerill. Two missed cuts since aren't ideal but his second round of 71 at Marco Simone showed his game is still in decent shape. Tests such as this at Bernardus I feel will suit and he has a win at Silkeborg in Denmark, a course that will have a few similar characteristics to this one in Holland. 

1pt each-way C.Hill 75/1  1/5 8 (Bet365 each way extra)