January 31, 2012

European Tour Form Guide: Peter a Hanson bet in Qatar

Golf Form Guide RSS / / 30 January 2012 / Leave a Comment

Swede Peter Hanson

Swede Peter Hanson

"Retief Goosen and Peter Hanson are of more interest however - the former showing glimpses of his best form in recent weeks, whilst Hanson’s final round display last week is best ignored."

Ignore Peter Hanson's final round collapse in Abu Dhabi says Mike Norman, the Swede is still playing well and is one of this week's Form Guide's three suggested players.


If it was a 'dream' for Robert Rock just to be playing in the same group as Tiger Woods, I wonder how he's feeling now that he went head-to-head with the great man in the final group on a Sunday - and defeated him.

It was a fabulous performance from Rock, and although he wasn't one of our 'Players to Watch' last week, the likeable down to earth Englishman was recording his third top-10 finish and fourth top-12 finish in his last four events, so a form clue was definitely there.

Alvaro Quiros was a big disappointment for us last week but two of our other players to watch - Charl Schwartzel and Peter Hanson - got into contention at different stages and traded significantly lower than their pre-tournament odds.

The Tour stays in the desert this week for the Qatar Masters where another strong field has assembled. Lee Westwood is the early favourite at [11.0], just ahead of Martin Kaymer and Sergio Garcia, both available to back at [16.0]. American Ryder Cup star Hunter Mahan ([25.0]) makes a rare but welcome appearance on the European Tour but I doubt his presence will generate anywhere near as much attention as Tiger Woods did seven days ago.


Tournament Finishing Positions

(Tournaments used: Abu Dhabi Championship, Volvo Golf Champions, Joburg Open, Africa Open, Dubai World Championship, UBS Hong Kong Open)


Branden Grace (2)... 27
Rory McIlroy (2)... 26
Robert Rock (3)... 22
Retief Goosen (2)... 21
Louis Oosthuizen (3)... 21
Peter Hanson (2)... 15
Alvaro Quiros (2)... 15

Charl Schwartzel (2) ... 14
Paul Lawrie (3)... 14
Jaco Van Zyl (2)... 13.5


*number in brackets after a player's name is the number of top-10 finishes achieved in qualifying period
**players in bold are scheduled to participate in the next tournament on tour


Branden Grace remains top of our form guide as the fact is, despite missing the cut in Abu Dhabi, he has won two of his last three events. Retief Goosen and Hanson are of more interest however - the former showing glimpses of his best form in recent weeks, whilst Hanson's final round display last week is best ignored. The Swede recorded a magnificent eight under par third round on Saturday but looked visibly nervous playing in the same group as Woods on Sunday.

Players to watch: Branden Grace [70.0], Retief Goosen [30.0], Peter Hanson [44.0]


The Cut-makers

Jaco Van Zyl... 17.5
Charl Schwartzel... 14.5
George Coetzee... 13.5
Retief Goosen... 12.5

Thomas Bjorn... 12
Ernie Els... 12
David Drysdale... 12
Robert Karlsson... 12

Jamie Elson... 12
Luke Donald... 12
Gregory Havret... 12


Jaco Van Zyl is becoming a solid weekend performer. If scores were reset at the halfway stage the South African would have finished first, fourth, and eighth in his last three events and is a total of 26 shots under par for the last six weekend rounds he has played. Van Zyl is definitely a player to watch In-Play when making the cut and is worth keeping an eye on in various markets depending on how far back he is.

Players to watch In-Play: Jaco Van Zyl, George Coetzee, Retief Goosen


Don't forget to check back later in the week for The Punter's in depth preview of this event.

The European Tour moves to UAE this week where a world class field has been assembled, but Mike Norman's Form Guides points us firmly in the direction of a likeable desert specialist....

Mike Norman's updated form guide has thrown up a trio of South African-born players to follow at this week's prestigious Volvo Golf Champions event....

Mike Norman kicks off his new Form Guide column with a look at the best performing players on the European Tour currently, and recent winner Louis Oosthuizen heads the list....


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