Following the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship last weekend, the DP World Tour continues this week in France for the Open de France. After a stellar field last week, several big names are sitting this one out which means an opportunity for some of the tour's ‘lesser' players to make a name for themselves.
The tournament will be played at Le Golf National near Paris where it has been held continuously for since 2002. The course was also the host venue for the Olympic Golf tournament in the summer so some players in the field have already had a taste this year of what's to come this weekend.
As a side note, we successfully predicted the top three at the Olympic Golf Tournament so perhaps know a thing or two about who should do well around here.
The weather in Paris will be different to what it was in August which presents a different challenge for the players this week. Rain is expected on at least a couple of days but wind shouldn't be too much of an issue.
Le Golf National has often been criticised for being quite a ‘dull' golf course. A lot of the holes are self-explanatory with just one obvious route from tee to green. To win here, you just need to be steady and stay out of trouble. It isn't a place where imagination is necessarily rewarded.
Ahead of the first tee times on Thursday morning, and on the back of picking Tyrell Hatton as the 10/1 winner before a ball was struck last week, here are our Open de France betting tips.
Open de France betting tips
Nicolai Hojgaard (Eight places) – 20/1
Nicolai Hojgaard was hot property this time last year but he hasn't quite enjoyed the same success this time around and in many ways, has been outshone by his brother, Rasmus. One tournament this year where Nicolai Hojgaard did excel, however, was at the Olympics so he will be looking forward to returning to Le Golf National this week.
Hojgaard finished seventh at the Olympics and was just three shots away from picking up a medal. The highlight of his week was a nine-under-par round of 62 in the second round, a score that was only matched by Scottie Scheffler in the final round. If the Dane can produce that type of form again this week, there will be no Scheffler to stop him.
Thorbjorn Olesen (Eight places) – 20/1
Fellow Dane, Thorbjorn Olesen, is also a good bet this week. He has played well at the Open de France several times over the years with his best performance coming on debut in 2011 when he finished as the runner-up by one stroke to Thomas Levett.
He finished third in 2017 and has since secured another top-ten finish in addition to a solid effort at the Olympics, where he finished in 14th position. There aren't many players in the field this week with greater experience around Le Golf National than Olesen which makes him a contender to cover the E/W at the very least.
Jordan Smith (Eight places) – 20/1
As mentioned earlier, steady and consistent golf is going to win you the golf tournament this week. In many ways, that is quite a refreshing notion and against the norm of having to drive the ball 350 yards and take on traps to win. Variance is what makes golf so great and without it, the sport would die.
The greatest indicator of a ‘steady' golfer is their greens in regulation percentage. This doesn't measure how close they are sticking the ball to the pin on approach shots, but rather whether they are regularly putting for birdie or better.
Jordan Smith is second for the season on the DP World Tour for Greens in Regulation percentage which bodes well for this week. The only man higher than him in the rankings is Tommy Fleetwood who a) has played 49 fewer rounds than Smith and b) isn't participating this week.
Open de France singles
- Nicolai Hojgaard E/W (Eight places) – 20/1 @ Betfred
- Tommy Fleetwood E/W (Eight places) – 20/1 @ Betfred
- Jordan Smith E/W (Eight places)– 20/1 @ Betfred
Andy is tipster who has been calling Golf tournaments for several years across many different platforms. He has covered all tournaments from the Asian Tour to the Masters.
