Nordea Scandinavian Masters Preview

After his fabulous victory in the Open Championship at St Andrews, Louis Oosthuizen heads to Sweden to compete in the Scandinavian Masters at Bro Hoff Slott GC. Ricardo Gonzalez defends the title.

Ricardo Gonzalez defends
Fergus Bisset
By
published

Lowdown: After his fabulous victory in the Open Championship at St Andrews, Louis Oosthuizen heads to Sweden to compete in the Scandinavian Masters at Bro Hoff Slott GC. Ricardo Gonzalez defends the title. It's only two days since the final putt dropped at the Home of Golf, but the European Tour cavalcade keeps on rolling and the next stop is Stockholm in Sweden for the 20th running of the Scandinavian Masters. There's a new venue for the tournament this year - Bro Hoff Slott GC is a Robert Trent Jones Jr creation that only opened for play in 2007. It's a beautiful course set right on the waterside and it's already widely considered to be the best track in Sweden. It's also extremely long. In fact, at 7,551 yards, it's the second longest course ever to stage a European Tour event on Continental Europe. There's a very strong field assembled for the event with newly crowned Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen the star attraction. He's joined as a sponsor's invite by Americans Rickie Fowler and Dustin Johnson as well as K.J. Choi from Korea. 2009 winner Ricardo Gonzalez is also on the start sheet. Last year at Barseback GC, the Argentine recovered from a disastrous third round of 77 to beat Jamie Donaldson of Wales by two strokes.

Venue: Bro Hof Slott GC, Sweden Date: Jul 22-25 Course stats: par 72, 7,551 yards Purse: €1,600,000 Winner: €333,330 Defending Champion: Ricardo Gonzalez (-10)

TV Coverage: Thursday 22 - Live on Sky Sports 3 from 9.30am Friday 23 - Live on Sky Sports 3 from 9.30am Saturday 24 - Live on Sky Sports 3 from 11.30am Sunday 25 - Live on Sky Sports 3 from 11.30am

Player Watch: Louis Oosthuizen - After a phenomenal display at St Andrews, the South African travels to this event on a sponsor's invite. He has the length to cope with this testing course and there's nobody in the field with more confidence. Robert Karlsson - One of a pack of Swedes who could contend this week, Karlsson is showing signs of returning to his best form. He put in a solid performance in the Open last week. Edoardo Molinari - On a great run of results, the Italian will be looking to make the most of the sizeable prize fund at this event to continue his climb up the Ryder Cup points list.

Key hole: 17th. On the card it may look innocuous as just a 150 yard par 3. But, it has an island green in the style of the famous 17th at Sawgrass. It's green or bust on this one and we could see some players' chances ending in a watery grave come Sunday afternoon.

Skills required: Length. This is a long course and will play its full yardage. The guys who can carry the ball a good distance from the tee will be at a distinct advantage.

Fergus Bisset
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?

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