Rory heads stellar field in Turkey

The Turkish Airlines Open is the first event of the European Tour's Final Series

Rory McIlroy will start favourite in the Turkish Airlines Open
Rory McIlroy will start favourite in the Turkish Airlines Open
(Image credit: Getty Images)

The European Tour’s Final Series kicks off this week with the Turkish Airlines Open over the Montgomerie Maxx Royal course in Antalya. Rory McIlroy will start as favourite.

There’s a limited field for this event with just 78 players on the start sheet. The top-60 on the World Ranking are eligible, then there are four invites and three players nominated by the Turkish Golf Federation. After that the field is made up of the leading players on the Race to Dubai.

Opened for play in 2008, the course at Montgomerie Maxx Royal is one of the very best in the Antalya region. Designed by the Ryder Cup legend, together with European Golf Design, it’s set across 257 acres of undulating terrain, with fairways carpeted in sandy turf meandering through mature pine forests and past a total of eight lakes.

It may stretch to over 7,100 yards, but this is a layout where strategy is key. There are some good “risk-reward” drives and the rolling fairways mean a shot travelling too far can roll into one of the cleverly placed bunkers or tricky waste areas that bound a number of fairways.

Venue: The Montgomerie Maxx Royal, Antalya, Turkey Date: Oct 29 – Nov 1 Course stats: par 72, 7,133 yards Purse: $7,000,000 Defending Champion: Brooks Koepka (-17)

TV Coverage: Thursday 29 – Sky Sports 4 from 9am Friday 30 – Sky Sports 4 from 9am Saturday 31 – Sky Sports 4 from 9am Sunday 1 – Sky Sports 4 from 8.30am

Danny Willett – Currently second in the Race to Dubai, Willett has had a superb season. He’s 26th on the Official World Ranking and will be looking to end the year on a high. He was tied fourth in this event last year.

Matthew Fitzpatrick – The youngster is on fabulous form right now with three third place finishes and a victory in his last six starts on the European Tour. He’s making the game look easy and there’s no reason to think his good run will stop this week.

Key hole: 18th. A par-5 of over 550 yards it will be reachable in two for the longer hitters. The fairway is separated into sections by waste areas so distance control is key. Water lurks left of the green and bunkers wait short of the putting surface. There’s definitely potential for the odd eagle here and that could be crucial as the event reaches its climax.

Fergus Bisset
Contributing Editor

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He has also worked with Golf Monthly to produce a podcast series. Called 18 Majors: The Golf History Show it offers new and in-depth perspectives on some of the most important moments in golf's long history. You can find all the details about it here.

He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly.

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?