The RyDov Cup, where the Tour began all those years ago, has staked its claim as both the marquee event of the year and also the final event of the year.

It is revered by all who have played in it, and each year brings a new story line, greater intrigued and fantastic competition and camaraderie.

The 2024 edition is no different, yet in many ways it is, it is the 10th match played and with that comes a level of expectation never really felt before. The Tour have also marked this occasion by diverging from the traditional selection method and have created a team of Founding players to face off against a team of newcomers and have put two players that epitomize the Tour entirely, Andy Love and Paul Gowens, in charge of them.

We’ve heard the team announcement, we’ve witnessed the verbal sparring of the Captains, now we’ve unleashed EuroDov Reporter on 9 years’ worth of RyDov Cup records and thousands of sheets of data from Tour events to give us a blow by blow prediction from each match so sit back, enjoy and get ready to argue your case against EuroDov Reporter.

Match 7 in the morning singles features Denis Duncan v Rory Malloch.

Ok so we know the story of the rookies, and their struggle to win on their debut, but you’re going to need to hear me out here.

Rory Malloch has joined the Tour in 2024, and whilst he’s a rookie in the RyDov he’s made a number of appearances on Tour including playing for the EuroDov Team at the 2024 Carnegie Cup, playing Q-School and winning the Anstruther Plate.

On the other hand, Denis Duncan hasn’t had the best of seasons on the Order of Merit sitting in 8th with just two events to go and slipping outside of the Official Tour Rankings for the first time since they were created.

Duncan is a fierce competitor and his RyDov record shows that. In 8 appearances he’s won 5 points with a win rate of 63%, something that should not be sniffed at. Duncan does, however, need to stretch back to 2021 to find his last win.

This is going to be a great match, Malloch has the ability to overpower courses and on the wide-open Bruce Course he might just have the perfect canvas. However, Duncan will not go without a fight, and he’ll have the numerical advantage when it comes to the handicap.

All things considered this match will be either a total blow out or nip and tuck to the end and adjusting for all the variables, the fact this match is going to be played over the Bruce I am giving the win to Team Gowens.

Team Love 3.5 – 3.5 Team Gowens