Trophee Hassan II 2014- Golf Betting Tips

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Trophee Hassan II 2014- Golf Betting Tips – A fantastic event in Morocco this week, the players love the luxurious surroundings of playing in the grounds of the Royal palace, our man @gbenno79 is going to try and make it a luxurious Sunday for all of us by tipping us another European tour winner, he has been on fire on this tour to data this year.
 
Trophée Hassan II 2014 – Golf Betting Tips
 
Course : Golf du Palais Royal, Agadir, Morocco – 6,951 yds, Par 72
 
This years tournament will be the 41st edition of the event, Golf du Palais Royal has hosted the Moroccan Open in 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998 & 1999 and the Trophée Hassan II in 2011, 2012 and 2013.        
                                                                                                                                                 
The Golf du Palais Royal is a private course designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. on the grounds of the Royal Palace in Agadir. Its doors open exclusively for the Trophée Hassan II.The Golf du Palais Royal has hosted the prestigious Trophée Hassan II since 2011. As the location of the Moroccan Open in the 1990’s, the golf course remained in excellent condition and was left unchanged until the return of the Trophée Hassan II.
 
The Golf du Palais Royal is built for high level tournaments. Surrounded by majestic walls that stand in front of the Atlantic Ocean, this is a pure links course, with its bumpy fairways built on sand, and its greens sitting on formidable slopes. 
 
Accuracy off the tee is much more important this week than power due to the course playing really tough when the ball is in the rough.
 
Golf du Palais plays really difficult when the wind gets up and if the forecast is correct Sunday may become a major test for the guys at the top of the leaderboard, the course has a superb links feel to it and the greens here are particularly small which are well protected by some very tricky bunkers.  There have been some changes on the tees most notable at holes 9,15 and 17.
 
 
Inside The Field : A strong international field, including in-form Englishman Ross Fisher and 2008 Harry Vardon Trophy winner Robert Karlsson, stands between defending champion Marcel Siem and a slice of history in this week’s Trophée Hassan II. 
 
No player has successfully defended the Trophée Hassan II title since the €1.5 million tournament joined The European Tour International Schedule in 2010, but a repeat of his performance at the magnificent Golf du Palais Royal 12 months ago would give Siem every chance of becoming the first. 
 
The German never looked back after an opening round of 64, eventually completing a wire-to-wire win by three shots from Finland’s Mikko Ilonen and the 2011 champion David Horsey.
 
In the process, Siem became one of five players to secure wire-to-wire victories during the 2013 season, but he was the only player to lead after each round without any ties.
 
Siem has played every edition of the Trophée Hassan II since 2010, and counted the tournament amongst his favourites even before his victory last year. 
 
Robert Karlsson who will be making his 498th European Tour appearance this week  is competing in the tournament for the first time. 
 
The Swede, who finished in a tie for eighth place in Abu Dhabi at the start of the season, arrives in Agadir on the back of a fine display in the Puerto Rico Open on the US PGA Tour, where he finished inside the top 15. 
 
Another player currently in a rich vein of form is Fisher, who followed up his top ten finish in the recent Joburg Open by capturing his fifth European Tour title in the Tshwane Open.  This will be Fisher’s first time playing in the Trophée Hassan II event
 
Fisher’s compatriot Horsey will also feel confident of contending yet again at Golf du Palais, having finished in a tie for third and joint tenth in his last two appearances, at the Africa Open and the Joburg Open respectively.
 
On his way to victory in 2011, Horsey made a hole in one on the second hole on day four, thereby becoming only the fourth player in European Tour history to record an ace in the final round and go on to win. Remarkably, Horsey is a total of 44 under par for his 16 rounds in the event since 2010.
 
Similarly, Rhys Davies’ record in the tournament – he won in 2010 and lost to Horsey in a play-off the following year – will also fill the Welshman with confidence.
 
The Trophée Hasan II, which was first played in 1971, is Morocco’s longest running sporting event. The tournament is steeped in history, with no fewer than nine Major Champions lifting the trophy: Orville Moody (1971), Billy Casper (1973, 75), Lee Trevino (1977), Vijay Singh (1991), Payne Stewart (1992, 93), Nick Price (1995), David Toms (1999), Padraig Harrington (2007) and Ernie Els (2008).
 
 
Previous Winners
 
2013 – Marcel Siem
 
2012 – Michael Hoey
 
2011 – David Horsey
 
2010 – Rhys Davies
 
 
Tournament Records
 
72 Hole Record : 266, Rhys Davies ( 2010 )
 
18 Hole Record : 61, Jamie Donaldson ( 2012 )
 
Selections :
 
This weeks selections are based on players who have had form here beforehand or players that have won in the last calendar year.  All previous four winners of this event had won the season before entering this tournament.  It also looks like you don’t need to be in any particular great form to win here in Morocco, as only one out of the last four winners had notched up a top-10 that season leading up to the event.
 
 
The Finnish Ilonen has made an impressive start to the season, so far to date he has played five events, making the top-10 on two occasions.  His best effort was a second place finish at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, where he was beaten in a play-off by Spaniard, Sergio Garcia, back in January.  Mikko has fantastic form here in Morocco, where he has finished in the top-10 three times, his best effort was a second place finish last year to Marcel Siem.
 
 
Northern Irish Hoey, has won five times on the European Tour, one of these wins was at this tournament back in 2012 when he beat Damien McGrane by three shots after a fantastic final round of 65.  So far this season he has played nine events and racked up two top-10 finishes, his best finish so far was in his last event where he came second with a last round of 68 at the Tshwane Open in South Africa.
 
 
Bristol born Wood has the potential to be a top player, he has shown signs in top events of what he is capable of.  Chris has only got one win to his name so far on the European Tour, which was the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters in 2013, when he made an eagle on the last hole, to beat Sergio Garcia and George Coetzee by one shot.  So far this season, he has played five events with only one top-10 finish, which was at his last event, the Tshwane Open, where he showed signs of improvement with a last round of 68.  With this weeks tournament on a links type golf course, this may suit the young hot-shot.
 
 
Frenchman Bourdy, has had a ‘below-par’ start to the season.  He has only made one top-20 finish which was a 16th place finish at the Joburg Open back in
February, after only playing four events in total.  As mentioned before, winners of this tournament have generally come to the event searching for form but have had a previous win to their name within the past twelve months. Gregory, who won the ISPS Handa Wales Open, when he beat Peter Ulhein by two strokes, matches this criteria.  
 
 
Southport born Fleetwood, has been brought up playing links golf all his life, living in a coastal town with plenty of top courses to hand, which should benefit him this week at the Trophée Hassan II.  Tommy has played five events with only one top-10 finish, which was his first event of the season at the Volvo Golf Champions, where he finished third after he faltered with a last round of 72.  Fleetwood has missed the cut on his last two starts at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic and the Tshwane Open, but will be eager to bounce back to form here in Morocco.
 

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