European Tour: KLM Open Power Rankings

The European Tour heads north for the KLM Open, its one and only annual stop in the Netherlands

Joost Luiten will be greeted with a hero’s welcome when he returns to the Netherlands to defend his KLM Open title, which he won for the second time in 2016.

The 31-year-old from Bleiswijik has won five times on the European Tour and just about carries the Dutch golf flame single-handedly. A great thing about the European Tour is its reservation of spots in the field for natives playing in their home event.

Sixteen other Dutchmen are in the 150-man field, but world No. 507 and Challenge Tour player Daan Huizing is the highest-ranked after Luiten.

That’s alright, because ten top 100-players help compose this week’s field at an event known to produce high quality winners dating back to its official bond with the European Tour beginning in 1972.

Six former KLM Open champions are assembled this week, though each will be seeking his first win at The Dutch, which is in its second of three contracted years as the host course.

The Dutch, located in Spijk, Groningen, Netherlands opened for play in 2011 and featured Colin Montgomerie assisting on the design. It’s a relatively short course measuring at 6,983 yards for a par of 71 and is an inland links style course.

Scoring was low here last year as Luiten won by three strokes, at 19-under, over Bernd Wiesberger under relatively benign conditions.

This week’s weather forecast calls for plenty of wind, rain and cool temperatures, which could give The Dutch some teeth.

It could be a grinder’s tournament to win this week. Read on to see who’s trending toward a high finish at the KLM Open.