Weekly previews
A superb week on both sides of the Atlantic as the European Open includes newly crowned US Open Champion Angel Cabrera and the AT&T National on the PGA Tour sees the return of Tiger Woods.
Smurfit Kappa European Open Preview
Tournament: Smurfit Kappa European Open
Course: The K Club
Purse: £2,400,000
Course Details: par 72, 7313 yards. As ever, this year?s tournament will be played over the Smurfit course at the K Club. This course is very much a links style golf course with there being very few trees. However, any similarities to a links is quickly forgotten on the back nine as water is the main hazard, especially on the final six holes where the 14 acres of lakes come into play.
Key Holes: 13-18. Water comes very much into play and par could be a very good score come Sunday afternoon. Finding the fairways and greens is key to making a good score.
The lowdown: A strong field head to the K Club as players prepare for the Open. Pardraig Harrington and Paul McGinley, coming off one of his best finishes this year, lead the home contingent. Colin Montgomerie is also in the field but the star attraction will be newly crowned US Open champion, Angel Carbrera. David Howell is also expected to return for the first time since the Masters after suffering from long term injuries.
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The contenders: Angel Cabrera, Paul Casey, Padraig Harrington.
AT&T National preview
Tournament: AT&T National
Course: Congressional Country Club
Prize fund: $6,000,000
Course Details: Par 70, 7,204 yards
The tournament will be played on the Blue Course. It is heavily tree-lined with numerous water hazards and bunkers coming into play. This course has played host to the US Open on three separate occasions and will provide a challenging yet fair test for the players with both the fairways and greens expected to be very quick.
Key Holes: 13 and 18. These two holes will play a key role in the tournament. Water comes into play on both holes two pars will be a good score. The 13th is a long par 3 with water in front of the green and 18 has water guarding 3 sides of its green.
The lowdown: Tiger Woods plays his first tournament since the arrival of his child, Sam Alexis. He is also the tournament host this week as his charity, the Tiger Woods Foundation, is the benefiting charity. Phil Mickelson returns from injury and Adam Scott will compete, both play for the first time since missing the cut at the US Open. Geoff Ogilvy, Vijay Singh and Jim Furyk, coming off a top-10 finish last week, are the other players from the World?s top ten, which make up a very strong field. This event takes the place of The International but the previously used modified stableford scoring system will not be used.
Contenders: Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott