European Tour Power Rankings: ISPS Handa World Super 6 Perth

Thorbjørn Olesen

The Thunder Bear got back in golf’s consciousness with a win in November at the Turkish Airlines Open. He enters the week ranked No. 68 in the world, good for third among those in Perth this week. He didn’t do damage in 2016’s WGC-Match Play or the Paul Lawrie Match Play, but this isn’t your typical match play event in terms of rules or field strength. What he does have on his side is success at Lake Karrinyup. He won the event here in 2014 by three at 17-under, the lowest score in relation to par in the tournament’s four years as a full-on stroke play event.

The 27-year-old Dane usually appears to be having fun on the course and offers a smile as bright as the colors he often wears. Olesen’s demeanor should be apt for success at the World Super 6 Perth and the glaring weakness in his game could be mitigated. Olesen found the fairway off the tee just 55.7 percent to rank 135th on the European Tour in 2016. Lake Karrinyup doesn’t have too much for gnarly rough, though, which could set up for a top-40 ball striker like Olesen to thrive from wherever his approaches come.