Out of the Rough: Nexo Championship (2026)

The DP World Tour will put a cap on its ‘Closing Swing’ with this week’s Nexo Championship.

Last year marked the first time playing of the Nexo Championship at Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

This year’s installment will once again be held at the same venue, the North Seas Course at Trump International Golf Links, that was first played a season ago. When I say first played, I really mean it as the venue opened on July 29th, 2025.

Nexo, the title sponsor of this event, made history as well a season ago becoming the first digital wealth platform sponsor of the DP World Tour. 

As previously mentioned, this is the final event of the DP World Tour’s ‘Closing Swing,’ as next week’s Husqvarna British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo will begin the ‘Back 9’ swing.

The Field

Current Race to Dubai standings leader Patrick Reed will tee it up this week on the DP World Tour for the first time since The Open Championship.

He’ll be joined by Eugenio Chacarra, Casey Jarvis, Andy Sullivan, Shaun Norris, Marcus Armitage, Davis Bryant, Julien Guerrier and Jacob Skov Olesen as those ranked within the top 25 of the current Race to Dubai Standings to be playing this week.

Grant Forrest comes in as the defending champion, winning the inaugural edition of this event by four strokes over Joe Dean a season ago. Forrest will be back to defend his title.

The Course

The Trump International Golf Links, North Seas Course was officially opened on July 29th, 2025, joining what is now known as the Old Course.

The North Seas Course is described as a modern links style course that features both coast-line links holes before going inland to heathland and wetland areas. It then finishes in sand dunes with views of the North Sea.

Dr. Martin Hawtree, the man trusted with preparing The Open Championship venues each season, is the principle architect of this design. He was supported by Christian Lundin and Christine Fraser.

It plays as a par-72 at 7,428 yards.

This new layout spans hundreds of acres of rugged coastal terrain with infinity greens hugging the coastal dune ridge.

The course features the world’s largest natural bunker as well as mountainous sand dunes.

As previously mentioned, this course features healthland and wetland areas and therefore has much more fresh-water in play than most links layouts in the area. 

In all, the idea was to add a second world-class 18 hole venue to the existing ‘Old Course’ to develop the ‘Best 36-Holes in Golf.’ The idea too was to find the balance between traditional links golf and the ability to host professional tournaments and even some day, The Open Championship.

The Weather

As of the time of writing this, Thursday currently calls for a 40-percent chance of afternoon showers. Friday is calling for a 45-percent chance of showers, Saturday a 50-percent chance of afternoon showers and Sunday a 30-percent chance of afternoon showers. Temperatures are currently set at a high of 62-degrees across all four days. Winds will begin the week at a high of 15 miles-per-hour for both Thursday and Friday before decreasing to ten miles-per-hour on Saturday. Winds will increase to upwards of 20 miles-per-hour on Sunday. 

Key Stats

• Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (SG: TTG)

• Strokes Gained: Putting (SG: PUTT)

• Three Putt Avoidance

• Scrambling

• Total Driving (75-percent Average Driving Distance / 25-percent Driving Accuracy)

• Sand Saves Percentage

• Par-Five Average Scoring

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

Betting Card

Jacob Skov Olesen (+2250)

Per my stats based model this week, Olesen is my overall favorite to win. He is currently 24th on Tour in par-four average scoring, 25th in three-putt avoidance, 27th in both SG: PUTT and sand saves percentage, 42nd in SG: TTG, 62nd in total driving, 64th in scrambling and 70th in SG: ATG. Olesen placed ninth last week at the Danish Golf Championship. He also placed sixth at the Corales Puntacana Championship and 30th at the ISCO Championship among regular PGA Tour players. He also placed T3rd at this event a season ago. 

Jorge Campillo (+4000)

Following Olesen and my next selection, Campillo is among my three overall favorites per my stats based model this week. He is currently 13th on Tour in three-putt avoidance, 30th in par-four average scoring, 31st in SG: TTG, 41st in SG: PUTT, 42nd in SG: ATG, 57th in total driving, 71st in sand saves percentage and 99th in scrambling. He last played the Corales Puntacana Championship where he placed 20th, again, among many PGA Tour regulars. He played this event a season ago as well, placing T48th. 

Julien Guerrier (+4500)

This is the aforementioned other top three member of my stats based model this week. Guerrier is currently third on Tour in scrambling, 17th in sand saves percentage, 30th in par-four average scoring, 33rd in SG: TTG, 47th in three-putt avoidance, 59th in SG: PUTT, 68th in SG: ATG and 81st in total driving. He placed 26th last week at the Danish Golf Championship. He’ll be playing the Nexo Championship for the first time this week. 

Joe Dean (+4500)

If you’re one to avoid the dreaded Golf Tips Checker (https://x.com/GolfTipsChecker) ‘wheel of death’, this is a guy you don’t want to bet. He’s going to be widely popular because he placed second at this event a season ago. Dean placed T39th last week at the Danish Golf Championship. He missed the cut at The Open Championship but placed ninth at the BMW International. He also missed the cut at the DS Automobiles 83° Open d'Italia but also placed third at the KLM Open and 12th at the Austrian Alpine Open. Dean is currently 20th on Tour in SG: PUTT, 34th in scrambling, 41st in total driving, 49th in par-four average scoring, 51st in SG: ATG, 60th in three-putt avoidance and 82nd in SG: TTG.

Dylan Frittelli (+12500)

When it comes to links golf, especially when the weather turns for the worse, a steady veteran can find themselves at the top of the leaderboard. That’s where Frittelli comes into play this week. His recent form isn’t ideal but that is baked into his price in a field of this caliber. He missed the cut last week at the Danish Golf Championship, made the cut at the Corales Puntacana Championship and missed the cut at the Genesis Scottish Open. Frittelli did place 11th at the DS Automobiles 83° Open d'Italia and 48th at the KLM Open. He is currently ninth on Tour in scrambling, 16th in sand saves percentage, 37th in total driving, 39th in SG: ATG, 48th in SG: PUTT, 83rd in three-putt avoidance and 87th in both SG: TTG and par-four average scoring. Not a bad resume for someone at 125/1. He did not play this event a season ago.

2025 Betting Card

• Kristoffer Reitan (+2000) - T3rd

• Angel Ayora (+4000) - MC

• Wenyi Ding (+5000) - T62nd

• Brandon Robinson-Thompson (+7500) - T27th

• Clement Sordet (+15000) - T31st