Leading contenders for the TNT Dutch Open

After the sensational finish at Carnoustie last week, the Dutch Open has been given the unenviable task of sustaining the drama.

Though it too requires straight driving on the tight Hilversum course, that is about all it has in common with treacherous Carnoustie.

The Dutch Open's position in the European Tour calendar is a double-edged sword.

It often boasts some world-class competitors hotfoot from the Open but many serious contenders often tend to sleepwalk through the week.

In fact, anyone battling down the stretch at the Open is usually so drained by the effort, they invariably perform poorly in Holland.

At little more than 6,600 yards, the course is one of the shortest on Tour and places a permium on accuracy off the tee, which explains why the dead-eyes like Colin Motgomerie, Mark McNulty and Miguel Angel Jimenez have all won here in the 1990s.

With the weather forecast predicting reasonable weather, players blown off course at Carnoustie have a chance to return to a less demanding test.

LEADING CONTENDERS

Lee Westwood: One player unlikely to be shattered by the Open is Westwood, who seems to take triumph and tragedy with equal measures of calmness. Inside the top 12 on his last two visits here (third last year) and boasting four top 20s coming to Hilversum, he is in ideal form to win here. One of the most accurate off the tee in the Tour stats only serves to underline his outstanding chance.

Nick Price: The Zimbabwean pays his second visit across the North Sea after matching Westwood's third spot last time around and having played the climax of the Open well out of contention, he should be fresh enough to challenge here, especially as he has proved to be a straight hitter on the US Tour.

Darren Clarke: Last year's runner-up has two other top 20 finishes here and must be respected again even though the Irishman's length off the tee is of little benefit on such a short course. Solid rather than spectacular in the last month, he has given the impression of slowly recovering his best form.

John Huston: The American is making his fifth trip to Hilversum and he is still to win here. Has always made the top 20 but will need to improve to beat a field stronger than normal for this event. His tied 17th in June's US Open shows he competes well on tight courses but may be better value in the spreads market.

Bernhard Langer: Langer turned the clock back last week to be a genuine contender though he ultimately faded in the closing stages. Had brought a badly out-of-form game to Carnoustie but seemed to be inspired by the buzz of the 'major'. Whether Hilversum's delights can evoke the same attitude remains to be seen as he has been outside the top 20 on both recent visits here.

Stephen Leaney: An unconsidered 100-1 shot when winning last year, he will be a front-runner this time boosted by four top 10 finishes already this season. Shot a superb second round 63 that put him in the driving seat last time and will have the benefit of missing the weekend at Carnoustie.

Jose Maria Olazabal: On a course that requires accuracy, the silky Spaniard is not the first name you would look for. Some of his drives might end up in Belgium and his broken hand, an injury borne of frustration at the narrowness of US Open fairways, would impede his challenge even more.

Eduardo Romero: 'The Cat' has not been scratching at the winner's door this season with a couple of seventh places the best he can show. Not played here for five years when he did finish tied 10th but could only be viewed as an each-way prospect at best.

Andrew Coltart: The crystal ball will have to be out again to see what kind of performance Coltart is going to put in. Flattered to deceive yet again at Carnoustie and has never made the top 10 in three visits here. Getting tired of waiting for the Scot to produce the goods.

Patrik Sjoland: At the start of the year he was a Ryder Cup certainty but an indifferent start to the season knocked his chances alarmingly. But he has bloomed in the summer, playing well for tied 19th at Carnoustie after his top 10 at Loch Lomond. Seems to have hit form at the right time and made the top 10 here last year.

Angel Cabrera: Was a superb fourth at the Open last week and a birdie at the last would have got him into the play-off. That's the good news - unfortunately it's also the bad news as he would have to break with tradition by taking his Open form straight to the Netherlands. Was third here in 1997 so has everything going for him if you can ignore the Open hoodoo.

Mark McNulty: Used Carnoustie to engineer a return to form when his first-day 73 paved the way for a top 40 finish. But he needed it as he had failed to trouble leaderboard much in the previous six months. However, his accurate tee to green game did bring him victory at Hilversum in 1996 but he appears to be less of a threat these days.

Mark James: A crucial week for 'Jesse', who has said he will make a decision about the Ryder Cup captaincy at the end of the month. So he will certainly be trying his best this week to check if he does still have the quality to play against the Yanks rather than direct from the sidelines. And Hilversum is one of James' favourite courses with top 10 finishes in each of the last two years. He also shows up well on the driving accuracy stats and could certainly extend his Ryder Cup dilemma another week.

Scott Dunlap: Another American trying his luck and with an impressive US record here in recent years, why not? A tied 10th in the Open shows that this trip may be just a bit of a holiday reward in Europe but he is one of the US Tour's straighter hitters so he may be no forlorn hope.

Costantino Rocca: The pudgy Italian has taken a long time to recover his sparkle and hopefully the Ryder Cup on the horizon may be the spur he needs. He tied fifth here last year and performed with credit at Carnoustie but he is not leaping out as an obvious winner here.

BEST OF THE REST:

A whole host of players have each-way possibilities at an event where 66-1 or 80-1 shots regularly make the frame.

Heavyweight Russell Claydon, despite his size, is more known for accuracy than power and has made the top 20 here three times including runner-up in 1997 in addition to top 20s at Loch Lomond and the Irish Open this month.

Ray Russell was third the year before and seventh in 1997 and don't worry unduly about his lack of recent form as he ended a string of missed cuts by finishing fourth in the 1998 Open Championship while another straight-hitter Michael Jonzon boasts a runners-up berth here in 1995 and bounced back to form with a second at Loch Lomond a fortnight ago.

Two of the Tour fairway finders are Ian Garbutt and Pierre Fulke and they both have form at this event and could go well at big prices.

But the outsider we like the most is Sven Struver, the winner of this very event in 1997. He played all four rounds at Carnoustie but was far enough back to avoid the last day pressure and had top 15s at the Irish Open and Slaley Hall prior to that and his tied 34th in the US Open, where accuracy off the tee is a must, proved his liking for a tight course.

SUMMARY

One player stands out with course form, recent displays and driving stats all pointing to Westwood.

He is the obvious favourite though there is still a touch of 12-1 around.

His close friend Clarke is not such an obvious pick but he has played well here and is just running into form though he is less good value than his mate at the 12-1 mark.

This narrow course tends to throw up a few specialists so previous winners should also be feared.

That brings both Leaney and Struver into the equation. Leaney is barely a quarter of the 100-1 he was last season but is definitely a much-better player while Struver also seems to relish the alleyway fairways of Hilversum.

Two players with Ryder Cup aspirations are also worth watching. Sjoland needs to continue his recent renaissance to secure his spot for Boston while James should be going all out to test his own playing credentials.