The European Tour comes to town this week with The Grove hosting the British Masters.

It is the first time the 7,121-yard par 71 has been used for a leading professional tournament for ten years since Tiger Woods romped to an eight-shot win in the World Golf Championship.

Former world number one Woods shot 23-under par a decade ago and according to host Luke Donald, there have been relatively few changes to the course.

With reasonably favourable weather forecast, aside from some breezy conditions, low scoring is expected again.

Hitting greens in regulation was a key stat among the players at the top of the leaderboard in 2006 so this could be the most important attribute this weekend.

English golfers have an excellent record at this tournament with five of the last eight winners from this country.

Ross Fisher fits this profile and looks well worth backing after a superb run of form in recent weeks. He was unlucky to finish second in a play-off defeat at the European Open last month.

Fisher backed this up last week in Scotland, shooting 19-under-par, where he was the joint runner-up. The five-time European Tour winner says The Grove is in great shape after a recent practise at the course and looks a big runner at 22/1 each way (Paddy Power).

Tyrrell Hatton denied Fisher after landing his maiden title at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and could easily double up this weekend. The Marlow golfer raced away from the field, shooting 16-under-par for his last two rounds, for a dominant victory.

Hatton tends to maintain his form, as he did with back-to-back top fives at the Scottish Open and Open Championship this summer. After nearly winning at Wentworth in May, Hatton can get his hands on a home win at an appealing 25/1 (Ladbrokes).

Watford Observer:

Another local star worth backing this weekend is Andrew Johnston. The popular Barnet golfer has become a cult hero this year on both sides of the Atlantic and recently secured his PGA Tour card for next season.

'Beef' landed his first title at the Open de Espana and there are more wins to come. Johnston, who has plenty of course experience in recent years playing at The Grove, is strong each way material at 40/1 (William Hill).

There is always room for backing a big-priced outsider and Kiradech Aphibarnrat could make a mockery of his odds this weekend. The burly Thai has already won three times on the European Tour including his victory in Scotland last year.

The 27-year-old's last tour start was impressive enough, finishing tied fifth at the Olympics in Brazil. Aphibarnrat also claimed a top-five spot at Woburn 12 months ago and there is tremendous value in backing him at 100/1 each way (Coral).