The DP World Tour heads to Sweden for the third edition of the Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed, held at Ullna Golf & Country Club.
A new course and an equal field of men and women will be competing for this week's title, which was won in historic fashion last year by Sweden's Linn Grant.
Compatriot Alexander Björk will be hoping to secure his first victory since 2018 this week, while Ewen Ferguson will try to continue a consistent run of form and both Caroline Hedwall and Klara Davidson Spilkova will hope to build on recent results as they vie to put their own names in the history books.
If you have not done so already, you can sign up to play the official 2023 DP World Tour Fantasy game and submit your six-man team before round one gets under way on Thursday: https://fantasy.dpworldtour.com/
The 2023 season-long winner will win a trip to the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai next year, enjoy a lesson with a DP World Tour professional and a round of golf on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates. For more information on this amazing prize and others, read here.
The Favourite - Alexander Björk
Arriving in his native Sweden, Alexander Björkwill look to build on the consistency he has shown all year as he goes in search of a second DP World Title. The Swede, who has three top six finishes in his last four starts, has finished outside the top 30 just once all year, and looks poised to add to the solitary Volvo China Open title he won in 2018.
One of the shorter hitters on Tour but also one of the most accurate, Björk ranks seventh for driving accuracy this year. In general his stats show a consistent all-round game, ranking first for bogeys, second for scoring average, fifth for scrambling, ninth for Strokes Gained: Approach the Green and 11th for Strokes Gained: Putting. Combined with recent results, it’s no surprise that he is proving to be a popular choice in this week’s Fantasy Game, having been selected by 55% of teams so far.
Fresh from a tie for sixth in last week’s Porsche European Open, Björkwill aiming to add to the delight home crowds experienced during Linn Grant’s historic tournament victory last year.
Form Horse - Ewen Ferguson
A viral hole out from the sand with his putter may be what Ewen Ferguson is remembered for last week, but his tie for 14th was yet another example of the form he has shown over the last few months.
His run of results began in Africa with a tie for third at the SDC Championship in March and a tie for fourth at the following week's Jonsson Workwear Open. With the exception of a missed cut in Italy, Ferguson has since produced a top ten at the KLM Open, a tie for 33rd at the Soudal Open and his top 15 in Germany.
The Scot, who won twice in his rookie season on Tour last year, has owed his form to his approach play - which will likely be an important part of the game at Ullna this week, a new venue to players. He ranks 10th for greens in regulation, 19th for Strokes Gained: Approach, and 27th for Strokes Gained: Tee to Green.
In search of win number three, Ferguson currently features in 30% of teams.
Wild Cards - Klara Davidson Spilkova, Caroline Hedwall
For the third consecutive year, the Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed boasts a field full of an equal number of men and women. With Linn Grant triumphing in 2022, we are singling out two females this week as our wild cards.
The first of these two women is Sweden's own Caroline Hedwall. The Solheim Cup star wowed fans during the first edition of this event when she made history as the first female player to hold the solo lead of a DP World Tour event during the second day of the 2021 Scandinavian Mixed. She went on to finish in a tie for 18th, and last year added a tie for 29th to her resume.
A seven-time winner on the Ladies European Tour, Hedwall is coming in to this week fresh from a top five finish - also in Sweden - at the Helsingborg Open.
Joining her in the field and making her debut this week is Klara Davidson Spilkova. Far from inexperienced, she is currently ranked fourth on the Ladies European Tour rankings (one behind Grant) but features in just 1% of Fantasy teams.
The Czech player, who is seeking her third career victory, has had an incredible season already, recording seven top tens in her last eight starts, which includes a runner-up finish in Florida and a solo fourth at last week's Helsingborg Open.
Both women will be hoping they can bring that form from one Swedish course to another as they aim for victory this week.
