European Tour: Portugal Masters top 10 power rankings

Slotting Thomas Pieters at No. 1 this week was a no-brainer. He’s the highest-ranked player in the field both in world rank and Race to Dubai standing.

He’s also fared well at this event, placing T6 in 2015 and T31 last year. No one could keep pace with Andy Sullivan’s runaway victory in 2015, but Pieters posted three rounds in the 60s to finish two back of second place.

He was in the 60s all four rounds last year, too, in another crazy scoring week.

Pieters has done just about everything but win this year while playing primarily on the PGA Tour.

The 25-year-old Belgian has three top-fives, which include a runner-up finish at the Genesis Open. The other two were at World Golf Championships, his latest a T4 at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational that Hideki Matsuyama ran away with.

Consistency has been the key for Pieters. When he’s on his game, he can get on a roll, but on the whole his precision has been fleeting this year. His driving accuracy (56.17%) and greens in regulation (65.91%) marks would rate him below average on the PGA Tour if he had enough starts to qualify.

Pieters has played just 17 events this year and is coming off of two weeks rest. I like his chances to overpower this course he should know well by now and flex his muscles against an average European Tour field.

Next: Romain Wattel earns first win at KLM Open

With action heating up in the Race to Dubai, who will come out on top in Portugal? Tell us your favorites in the comments below, or reach us on Facebook or Twitter @ProGolfNow.