Out of the Rough: Husqvarna British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo (2026)

The DP World Tour kicks off its ‘Back 9’ swing with this week’s Husqvarna British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo at The Belfry Hotel & Resort.

This event was first staged in 1946 as the Dunlop Masters. It was played until 2008 when the event was lost from the schedule after Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano won at this week’s venue, The Belfry, in 2008.

The event returned in 2015 when Ian Poulter hosted the event at Woburn. 

Since its return we’ve seen the likes of Luke Donald, Lee Westwood (twice,) Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood and Danny Willet (twice) host this prestigious event.

This year’s installment will once again be hosted by Sir Nick Faldo, who also hosted it each of the last three seasons. Faldo received Knighthood in 2009 for his services to golf. Faldo is a three time Masters winner and three time Open Champion.

The Field

With the PGA Tour entering its final week of the season with the 30-man TOUR Championship, we’ll begin to see PGA Tour regulars start trickling into DP World Tour fields.

The likes of Haotong Li, Harry Hall, Alex Noren, Thorbjorn Olesen, Keita Nakajima, among others will be teeing it up this week in England.

Additionally, with the LIV Golf Tour finishing off its season last week in Indianapolis and with the uncertainty of the league as a whole moving forward, many of its regulars will be playing this week as well.

That list includes Tyrrell Hatton, Adrian Meronk and Tom McKibbin will be the LIV regulars playing this week.

Other notable DP World Tour regulars playing this week include Patrick Reed, Eugenio Chacarra, Casey Jarvis, Jayden Schaper, Oliver Lindell, Andy Sullivan and Bernd Wiesberger. 

Noren comes in as the defending champion, having topped Nicolai Hojgaard and Kazuma Kobori by a stroke a season ago to win his second British Masters title.

Other former winners of this event at The Belfry playing this week include Daniel Hillier (2023) and Olesen (2022.) 

The Course

This week’s venue is The Belfry in Wishaw, Warwickshire, England. It plays as a Par-72 at 7,328 yards.

The Brabazon course at The Belfry was designed by Peter Alliss and Dave Thomas and first came to prominence when it hosted the Ryder Cup.

The parkland course is nearly unrecognizable from its Ryder Cup days with the then, hundreds of saplings, now turned into fully grown trees.

The Belfry is best described as a relatively flat course that features tree-lined, narrow fairways.

Water is in play on seven holes, most notably at the short, driveable par-four tenth. 

The tenth is arguably the most memorable hole on the course, described as a risk-and–reward hole which can be reached from the tee.

Another notable hole is the ‘brutal’ finishing hole. The 18th is a par-four featuring a drive over water and an approach over water as well. The green is then three-tiered.

This final hole offers plenty of chances for the event to be won or lost and can be the host for a dramatic finish.

The greens are Poa Annua and are fairly small on average. The larger greens at this course feature tiers and undulations, placing a premium on putting and scrambling.

The Weather

As of the time of writing this, there is a 70-percent chance of thunderstorms on Thursday. Friday is calling for a 50-percent chance of precipitation as Saturday calls for a 25-percent chance and Sunday a 45-percent chance. Temperatures are set for a high of 71-degrees on Thursday before dipping to 69-degrees for both Friday and Saturday. Temperatures will return to 71-degrees on Sunday. Winds will be the lowest on Thursday, maxing out at eight miles-per-hour before increasing to 11 miles-per-hour on Friday. Winds will remain at 11 miles-per-hour for Saturday before decreasing to nine miles-per-hour on Sunday.

Key Stats

• Strokes Gained: Approach (SG: APP)

• Scrambling

• Bogey Avoidance

• Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (SG: OTT)  / Driving Accuracy

• Strokes Gained: Putting (SG: PUTT)

• Greens in Regulation Percentage (GIR%)

• Strokes Gained: Around the Green (SG: ATG)

• Par Four Average Scoring

• Birdie or Better Percentage

Betting Card

Check back Monday (8/24) for my full betting card

2025 Betting Card

• Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (+2200) - T13th

• Haotong Li (+4000) - T8th

• Andy Sullivan (+5000) - 5th

• John Parry (+5500) - T43rd

• Jacques Kruyswijk (+9000) - MC

2024 Betting Card

• Tom McKibbin (+2750) - MC

• Thriston Lawrence (+3500) - 2nd

• Conner Syme (+4000) - T53rd

• Joe Dean (+7500) - T68th

• Fabrizio Zanotti (+13000) - MC

2023 Betting Card

• Min Woo Lee (+1000) - T15th

• Alexander Bjork (+2200) - T8th

• Thorbjorn Olesen (+2800) - T15th