European Tour: 2019 D+D Real Czech Masters Preview
By Matt Coles
The D+D Real Czech Masters takes place this week, as the European Tour gets back underway after its small summer break.
The Czech Masters is the first event on the European Tour’s schedule since the back-to-back weeks of the British Open and the FedEx St.Jude Invitational World Golf Championships event.
On Thursday, the field will tee it up at the Albatross Golf Resort, on the outskirts of Prague in the Czech Republic, for what is only the sixth edition of the tournament.
The venue has hosted the event for all six years, and the course has gone through some big changes in that time, and now sits at over 7,400 yards long.
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Last year’s winner, Andrea Pavan, will be looking to become the first man to defend his Czech Masters title this week, after beating out three-time major champion Padraig Harrington to the title in a two-way duel on the final day in 2018.
No player has successfully defended their Czech crown, with Jamie Donaldson (2014), Thomas Pieters (2015), Paul Peterson (2016) and Haydn Porteous (2017) all missing out the year after.
Pieters came the closest to retaining his crown, finishing as runner-up to Peterson in the 2016 event. His performances in both were enough to give him a wildcard berth at the Ryder Cup that year.
Talking of the Ryder Cup, last year’s runner-up and the 2020 European team captain, Padraig Harrington, will be in the field this week. He will join his predecessor Thomas Bjorn in Prague.
The Irishman will tee off alongside Pieters and fellow Ryder Cup star Lee Westwood, while past winners Jamie Donaldson and Haydn Porteous tee it up together, alongside Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston.
The reigning champion Andrea Pavan begins the defense of his title at 07:55 on Thursday morning, alongside Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open winner Bernd Wiesberger and local favourite Stanislav Matus.
The action kicks off at 07:15, with two groups going out. Filippo Bergamaschi, Adrien Saddier and Duncan Stewart tee off from the first, while the 10th will see Matthieu Pavon, Jason Scrivener, and Jan Cafourek start the day’s play from the midway point.
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Featured Groups (* = 10th tee off):
07:55* & 12:55: Stanislav Matus (CZE), Andrea Pavan (ITA), Bernd Wiesberger (AUT)
08:05* & 13:05: Padraig Harrington (IRL), Thomas Pieters (BEL), Lee Westwood (ENG)
08:15* & 13:15: Alexander Levy (FRA), Edoardo Molinari (ITA), Erik van Rooyen (RSA)
12:55 & 07:55*: Jamie Donaldson (WAL), Haydn Porteous (RSA), Andrew Johnston (ENG)
13:05 & 08:05*: Thomas Bjorn (DEN), Ernie Els (RSA), Eddie Pepperell (ENG)