Saudi International Preview

Royal Greens Golf and Country Club will play host to the second iteration of the much discussed Saudi International event. Will golf's premier villain take the top spot at golf's most vilified event, or is it to be another?

The signature 16th hole at Royal Greens G&CC

King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia, is the next stop on the European Tour. Aside from 'Economic City' sounding like the name of a dystopian metropolis where consumerism and rapid gratification have replaced love and human connection, according to several players, this is the perfect spot for the European Tour to continue its tradition of growing the game TM.

Call it what you will (bluster, cash-grabbing nonsense, total BS, par exemple), but the field is just about as strong as you are likely to find on a regular European Tour event all season, so let's focus on that.

World Number one Brooks Koepka is in the field, heading the bill with returning champion Dustin Johnson. A whole host of major champions including Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed, Shane Lowry, Martin Kaymer and Henrik Stenson will also compete in Saudi Arabia.

Another interesting component will be that all of the Top-15 from the 2019 Challenge Tour rankings are in the field.

The controversy certainly dominates the narrative surrounding the event, which is a shame, as the fact that it is being played at an underwhelming, flat, monotonous golf course, and has eye-roll inducing TV viewing times to boot, is thus going without remonstration. If nothing else, the field is going to be stellar.

This will be the second event Brooks Koepka has played since returning from a knee injury, and it's tough to figure out what to expect from golf's number one at this stage of the season. After a flawless 66 in his first round back in action in Abu Dhabi, Koepka stuttered with a 75 in round two, and posted a respectable five under par over the weekend en route to finishing in a tie for 34th.

Koepka had a dismal time in Saudi Arabia last year, with Friday and Saturday rounds of 70 and 74, being sandwiched by a pair of under par 69's, leaving at two over for the week, and 22 shots behind his fellow countryman Dustin Johnson.

As we all know, however, this all means nothing to Brooks. He's just as likely to take his appearance fee and use this as a warm up, as he is to shoot four rounds of 65 and win by four. Neither of these, should either of these scenarios to pan out, would be in the slightest a shock to the average golf fan.

Perhaps the most in-form player in the field right now is Frenchman, Victor Perez. The Quick Hook preview for the Dubai Desert Classic had Perez as one of the three favourites to win last week, and as things panned out, a final round of Even Par would have been good enough for Perez to claim his second European Tour title. Unfortunately, the wheels fell off on Sunday, and 79 shots later, Perez found himself in a tie for 16th place.

This shouldn't derail the form of the Frenchman, however. After winning the Dunhill in Scotland in October, his final round in Dubai was just about the first time Perez has stumbled. His stats for the week are still, on the whole, positive. He gained +1.66 strokes Off the Tee, and +0.92 strokes putting. Something similar this week, and Perez will find himself in contention once more.

Returning as champion is Dustin Johnson, competing in his second event of 2020, and his first on the European Tour. The Saudi Invitational remains the only win in Dustin Johnson's career to have payed out less than one million dollars to the champion, though I'm sure the hefty appearance fee more than made up that.

A lot is expected of Dustin every time he tees it up, having won every year on the PGA Tour since 2008, and having amassed 21 worldwide career victories.

Dustin emerged the victor from the inaugural Saudi Invitational last year, finishing one shot clear of Haotong Li at -19, including a course record 61 during the second round. Back-to-back wins could certainly be on the cards for DJ.

Plenty of players come into this week with a chance of winning the second European Tour event to be held in Saudi Arabia. Rookie of the Year Bob McIntyre returned from injury with a T8 finish in Dubai, and Abraham Ancer is coming into the event after a solo second in his last start, at the American Express in California.

Plenty of players will fancy their chances in the final leg of the desert swing, but who should we expect to challenge for the title? Look no further than an Englishman in fine form, the defending champion, and the golfer we all love to hate:

Patrick Reed

Patrick Reed accepting Honorary Life Membership from European Tour Chief Executive, Keith Pelley 

Photo by European Tour

This week sees the Tour return to where Patrick Reed was given an honorary life European Tour Membership in 2019. It retrospect, the decision to do this in Saudi Arabia was somewhat enlightened.

Almost certainly, playing in Saudi Arabia and taking copious stacks of dirty money in the form of appearance fees will have been a moral dilemma for some players in the field this week. I dare say Reed was not among this group. Morality and Patrick Reed are not entities you are likely to encounter in the same sentence ever again.

He comes into the event in some of the best form on the planet, with results of 3rd, T2, MC and T6 over the course of his last four tournaments. He sits seventh on the PGA Tour for Strokes Gained: Putting; gaining over one stroke per round on the field with the flat stick. That certainly helps in the pursuit of championships, and this could very well propel Reed to his first win of 2020.

Besides, wouldn't it make for a some sublime headlines?

Tom Lewis

Photo by European Tour

Tom Lewis, like Reed, comes into this event in sparkling form. In his last four events, he has three results inside the Top 15, including a T3 finish in Dubai last week.

He finished last years event in third place, after rounds of 62 and 65 over the weekend catapulted the Englishman up the field. Lewis went on to have a fantastic season after this event, gaining his PGA Tour card after emerging victorious in the Korn Ferry Tour Championship at Victoria National GC in September.

Lewis has two European Tour wins to his name, both of which coming at the same event: The Portugal Masters. Don't be surprised if this tally is increased by one come Sunday afternoon.

Dustin Johnson

Photo by European Tour

At a course measuring just over 7000 yards, long-hitting may not seem all that important, but Strokes Gained: Off the Tee proved to be one of the most statistically relevant categories in Saudi Arabia in 2019. It is also certainly worth mulling over, that nine of DJ's 21 professional wins have come on courses measuring less than 7,250 yards

Dustin Johnson finished fourth on the PGA Tour in the Strokes Gained: Off the Tee category last year, behind only Rory McIlroy, Jhonattan Vegas, and Bubba Watson.

Expect Dustin to put this statistic to good use again at Royal Greens G&CC, as he looks to defend his title.