The DP World Tour resumes this week with the start of the European Swing, the part of the season which takes us through The Open and towards the latter stages of the campaign. The Soudal Open is the tournament which gets things underway.
Simon Forsstrom became the second winner of this tournament a year ago and he is in the field looking to make a successful defence of the title but plenty of DP World Tour stalwarts are out to take the European opener from him.
Recent Winners
2023 – Simon Forsstrom
2022 – Sam Horsfield
The Course
We are at the Rinkven International Golf Club in Antwerp this week. This is the course which was used for this tournament in the last two years and which staged the two versions of the Belgian Knockout prior to the pandemic coming in and wiping golf in this part of the world out. The same composite course is in play this week which means the track is a par 71 which measures 6,940 yards and with a band of rain heading across Europe it might well play to a full yardage.
The course is quite exposed even though some of it is set in the woodland. It is a parkland course where water is in play on a number of holes so accuracy in the long game is very much required. Greens in regulation seems to be the big statistic here. 2019 winner of the Belgian Knockout, Guido Migliozzi was ranked second in GIR and that was a statistic that Benjamin Hebert, who lost the 2018 final ranked well in. This is not a track where excessive length is needed even allowing for the potential soft nature of the course.
The Field
A week on from the second major of the year on a bit of a slog of a golf course, we probably weren’t going to get a fantastic field to open up the European Swing and that is the case. We only have one player in the top 100 in the world rankings in the field this week and that is Jordan Smith, off the back of a solid USPGA Championship tilt. The defending champion Simon Forsstrom is also in what looks a competitive field.
There are Race to Dubai points on offer this week and Zander Lombard will be the only man in the top 10 of those rankings who will be looking to gain ground on those above him. Thriston Lawrence, Darius van Driel, Adrian Otaegui, Matteo Mannasero, Dylan Frittelli and Aaron Cockerill are all inside the top 20 in the list and will be looking to make their move. Home stars such as Thomas Pieters and Nicolas Calsaerts give the field an extra bit of flavour.
Market Leaders
Jordan Smith is the highest ranked player in the field this week and he is also the 18/1 favourite to win the tournament. He arrives here having finished the USPGA Championship last week with a 64 so his confidence should be pretty high despite his form during the Asian part of the season flattering to deceive a little. He plays this tournament for the first time but he did enter the Belgian Knockout here so he has tasted the course before. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him go well but there isn’t much of a wow factor in the price for my liking.
Two men come at 22/1 in the market this week. Adrian Otaegui has won the Belgian Knockout on this course so he will be returning to a track where he has good memories. The China Open winner of three weeks ago should arrive full of confidence and will be popular here. Yannik Paul is the other player at 22/1. He wasn’t at the USPGA Championship last week and we might look back on that as an advantage. The German has two top 11 finishes in his last three starts on the DP World Tour and was second on his only previous trip here. He could be a leading contender.
The home star Thomas Pieters is next in the betting at 25/1. He has been going well enough on the LIV Tour recently without looking like winning but we know he’ll be motivated by playing on home soil and having been given a national invite he will be looking to go very well so that he opens up more playing opportunities with world ranking points. He was in the top 10 here two years ago and shouldn’t be written off but the price is certainly a little cramped.
Bernd Wiesberger is the only other player in the field who is shorter than 40/1 on the best prices this week. The Austrian can be backed at 33/1. We are still waiting for him to show his best now that he is back as a regular feature on the DP World Tour after a spell away at LIV. He has top 25 finishes on his last two starts at this level but he is better than that so you wonder if some of his competitive edge has left him. I still think we’ll see him contending at some point but I need more signs before I commit again. It is 40/1 bar.
Main Bets
Given that he has already won around here and that he won three weeks ago, Adrian Otaegui is a pretty obvious main bet for me this week. I would actually have him as the favourite to win the tournament because this course suits his game. It isn’t overly long and we know he is hitting the ball well based on the fact that he won in China at the beginning of the month. It wasn’t like he disgraced himself in Kentucky last week on a course which was too long for him when he missed the cut on the number but with memories of winning here I think this is an excellent chance for him to go in again for the second time in May.
I’ll also back the man who Otaegui beat in the final of the Belgian Knockout on this course to go well this week. That is Darius van Driel who won the Kenya Open earlier in the year, which might be significant because there appears to be a lot of correlation in the form of that track and this one. Van Driel was T22 here last year when he was going much better before he slowed up in the final round but now that he has had a taste of success at this level he should finish much better here. He is well rested having not played since the China Open and ticks plenty of right boxes so he is my second main bet this week.
Outsiders
I wonder if this is a tournament where class is going to come to the fore and if it is then it could be worth siding with Luke Donald to have a decent week here. The Ryder Cup captain has played well enough this year to suggest that he is hitting the ball well enough and he was -3 at the halfway point of the USPGA Championship last week on a course a country mile too long for him so that will give him some encouragement. At the back end of last season, in fields much stronger than this he finished T45 at the Irish Open and T38 at the BMW PGA Championship which again suggests he isn’t going too badly. This year, in another stacked field, Donald finished T20 in the Dubai Invitational. Down in grade on a course which is much more to his competent yardage and skill set, the Ryder Cup skipper could outrun a big price.
Adri Arnaus is a former winner on the DP World Tour and while there is no claiming that his form is fantastic heading into this week, there have been the odd sign that he can still do it at this level. He was in the top 20 in South Africa in March and just outside it in Singapore a few weeks later. Arnaus has a couple of top 10 finishes in the Kenya Open which feels like it could be significant and generally doesn’t go too badly on these sorts of tracks. At 200/1 I just can’t resist a little play on a week where a big price winner or contender certainly wouldn’t be a surprise with the lack of depth in quality in the field.
Tips
Back A.Otaegui to win Soudal Open (e/w) for a 1.5/10 stake at 21.00 with Boylesports (1/5 1-8)
Back D.van Driel to win Soudal Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 51.00 with Boylesports (1/5 1-8)
Back A.Arnaus to win Soudal Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 201.00 with Boylesports (1/5 1-8)
Back them here:
Back L.Donald to win Soudal Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 126.00 with Betway (1/5 1-7)
