Made In Himmerland
New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier holed from 40 feet for eagle on the 15th, made birdie from a fairway bunker on the next and then holed from six feet for another eagle on the 17th in a brilliant final round of 66 at The Belfry to win the Betfred British Masters by two strokes over Gunner Wiebe and Oliver Wilson.
Hillier, a pre-tournament opening price of 90-1, earned his first DP World Tour win and earned a spot in the British Open later this month (Wiebe and Wilson also secured spots). He is a 50-1 price this week for the Made in Himmerland event in Denmark.
Alexander Björk (18-1) has posted three consecutive top-10s, including an eighth last week and finished sixth here in 2021.
Danish twins Nicolai (18-1) and Rasmus Højgaard (22-1) always have the pressure to play well in their “home game” event. Nicolai and Rasmus were sixth and third here, respectively, in 2021, but also have five missed cuts in nine combined appearances. Fellow Dane Thorbjørn Olesen (25-1) has a couple of finishes of seventh (2014, 2020) here.
Jordan Smith (22-1) was third two years ago and Robert MacIntyre (25-1) was runner-up in 2019.
Yannik Paul (25-1) was 8th last week at the Belfry and was third in his previous start at the Scandinavian Mixed four weeks ago.
Adrian Otaegui (28-1) was third here in 2016 and has been off for five weeks since his runner-up finish at the KLM Open in the Netherlands.
Niklas Nørgaard (33-1) is another Dane playing in his home country, but he does have success on this course having won in 2019 in the Race to Himmerland event as part of the Nordic Golf League. He also finished T-7 last week at the Belfry.
Wilson (60-1), runner-up last week at the Belfry, is the defending champion here. He won by one stroke as a 200-1 shot last year over Ewen Ferguson (35-1), who finished T-4 last week along with Calum Hill (33-1) and Justin Rose.
The Event
The Made in Himmerland was newly named in 2021 after it was known as the Made in Denmark since its inaugural event in 2014. The tournament has been played at Himmerland Golf & Spa Resort each year except for 2018.
The Course
The Made In Himmerland is played at the Himmerland Golf & Spa Resort in Farsø, Denmark. Himmerland can stretch out to 7,400 yards from the back tees but will play as a par-70 layout of just 6,646 yards. It is an exposed, inland track with water in play on five of the holes and linksy in style. Wind is the main defense on this track, but early forecasts indicate a moderate breeze of 15-20 mph for the early rounds, so low scoring should be the order of the day. The fairways are relatively wide, but missing them will punish players with some thick rough.
Four of the par-4s measure at under 400 yards and there’s also a very short 128-yard Par 3 (16th). The par-5 11th measures 645 yards, making it a three-shot hole for most of the field. Aside from the driveable par-4 14th, which at 284 yards ranked the easiest hole on the course two years ago. The remaining par-5 on the front nine — the fifth — will offer the best scoring opportunity, with the eighth now converted to a long par-4.
The greens will typically run between 10 and 11 on the stimpmeter and are smaller Bentgrass greens that have been tailor-made for the better putters on the DP World Tour.
Recent History/Winners
2022: Oliver Wilson (-21/263); 200-1
2021: Bernd Wiesberger (-21/263); 20-1
2020: Tournament canceled due to COVID-19
2019: Bernd Wiesberger (-14/270); 70-1
2018: Matt Wallace (-19/269); 40-1*
2017: Julian Suri (-19/265); 60-1
2016: Thomas Pieters (-17/267); 12-1
2015: David Horsey (-13/271); 80-1
2014: Marc Warren (-9/275); 30-1
Note: 2018 event played at Silkeborg
Playoff win over Steven Brown, Jonathan Thomson, and Lee Westwood – *
Selections
Alexander Björk (18-1, DraftKings)
The Swede has finished top 10 in five of his last six DP World Tour events.
Jordan Smith (22-1, DraftKings)
Smith was sixth at the Porsche European Open, where he ranked fourth in the field on approach, then 20th at the U.S. Open, where he ranked third in the field in the same category.
Ewen Ferguson (33-1, BetMGM)
Ferguson was runner-up in Denmark last year and finished T-4 last weekend at the British Masters.
Matthew Jordan (55-1, BetMGM)
He shot 62 here last year, which equaled the low round of the week, eventually finishing fourth.
Guido Migliozzi (66-1, Bet Rivers)
Last Sunday, Migliozzi shot 43 on the front nine at the British Masters when he had a share of the lead.
Still willing to play him this week on a course on which he finished second two years ago.
Placement market wagers along with anything on LIV London and the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach will be available at VSiN.com/picks on
