Primer: 2017 Turkish Airlines Open

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Turkish Airlines Open

The Turkish Airlines Open is the first of three consecutive Rolex Series events which concludes with the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

As one of eight Rolex Series events in 2017, the field in Turkey is loaded with talent, including Race to Dubai leader Tommy Fleetwood, defending champion Thorbjørn Olesen, and World No. 6 Justin Rose, who climbed to third place with victory at the WGC-HSBC Champions in China last week.

In addition to Rose and Stenson, other major winners in the field include Padraig Harrington and Martin Kaymer.

Tyrrell Hatton, Thomas Pieters, Lee Westwood, and Matthew Fitzpatrick are some of the other familiar names.

In all 13 of the top 20 on the Race to Dubai Rankings will be teeing it up at Regnum Carya Golf & Spa Resort.


THE SKINNY

NAME: Turkish Airlines Open
DATES: Nov. 2-5, 2017
COURSE: Regnum Carya Golf & Spa Resort
WHERE: Antalya, Turkey
DISTANCE: Par 71 / 7,186 yards
ARCHITECT: Thomson Perrett & Lobb
MONEY: $7M Purse, $1.2M Winner’s Share
2016 WINNER: Thorbjørn Olesen


RACE TO DUBAI

1 Tommy Fleetwood (ENG) 4,050,351.272
2 Sergio Garcia (ESP) 3,184,581.603
3 Justin Rose (ENG) 2,993,754.134
4 Jon Rahm (ESP) 2,898,456.505
5 Tyrrell Hatton 2,561,237.386
6 Ross Fisher (ENG) 2,492,831.25
7 Rafa Cabrera Bello (ESP) 2,367,543.858
8 Alex Noren (SWE) 2,087,154.839
9 Francesco Molinari (ITA) 1,885,390.1610
10 Rory McIlroy (NIR) 1,832,091.03


GOLF CHANNEL COVERAGE

ROUND 1: THU 6:00 – 10:00 AM
ROUND 2: FRI 6:00 – 10:00 AM
ROUND 3: SAT 6:00 – 10:00 AM
ROUND 4: SUN 6:00 – 8:30 AM
All times EST


2016 WINNER

In 2016, Denmark’s Thorbjørn Olesen claimed his fourth European Tour victory at Regnum Carya Golf & Spa Resort.

Olesen grabbed a seven-shot lead heading into the final round, but after David Horsey drained a 30-foot birdie on No. 9 to turn in 29 that advantage was down to two.

England’s Horsey then birdied the par-5 12th to cut Olesen’s lead to just one, but the Dane matched his birdie on 12 and dropped two more on 14 and 15 to close the deal.

“It was a weird feeling – I knew the guys today were able to shoot a low number so I had to make a few birdies,” said Olesen. “After nine holes guys were shooting really low numbers so all of a sudden there was a lot of pressure on. I felt like I kept it pretty steady. Obviously the last four holes were tough mentally.”

Olesen finished with a 3-under 69 and 20 under for the four days in Turkey.


FINAL RESULTS 2016

1 Thorbjørn Olesen 65-62-68-69 (-20)
2 David Horsey 67-67-68-65 (-17)
3 Haotong Li 66-66-68-65 (-17)
4 Bernd Wiesberger 66-70-66-67 (-15)
5 George Coetzee 64-73-66-67 (-14)


NOTES

  • With three events remaining in the 2017 Race to Dubai, Tommy Fleetwood currently leads Sergio Garcia by 865,769 points.
  • The 2013 Turkish Airlines Open marked the first time Turkey had staged a European Tour event and in doing so, became the 41st nation to host a European Tour event.
  • The Regnum Carya Golf & Spa Resort previously hosted the 2010 Turkish Airlines Challenge and was won by Charlie Ford in a play-off against Oscar Floren.
  • If Olesen were to successfully defend his Turkish Airlines Open title this week, he would be the first person to do so in the tournament’s history.
    • This would also be his fourth consecutive European Tour season with a victory, following the 2014 ISPS HANDA Perth International, 2015 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and the 2016 Turkish Airlines Open.
  • Thorbjørn Olesen’s three shot winning margin is the biggest in the history of the Turkish Airlines Open, beating the two strokes of Victor Dubuisson in 2013.
  • Both of Dubuisson’s European Tour titles came in the Turkish Airlines Open, in 2013 and 2015.
  • Even though the Turkish Airlines Open has only been played three times before, the tournament has produced two first-time winners with Dubuisson in 2013 and Brooks Koepka in 2014.

Credit: European Tour Media, Getty Images


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