Golf: Open de France
Venue: Le National Golf Club, Paris.
Dates: Thursday 17th – Sunday 20th October 2019
Tournament Preview
The Open de France has been a mainstay on the European Tour ever since its launch in 1972. The event itself dates back to 1906 and has been hosted at a variety of courses across France. Since 1991, the event has been played primarily at Le Golf National, the historic course that hosted the Ryder Cup in 2018. With $7 million dollars on the line, there is plenty to play for in Paris and the strength of the field is represented within that. Ryder Cup hero Alex Noren leads the field along with in-form players Joost Luiten, Matthias Schwab and Thomas Pieters – three men that will have one eye on the next Ryder Cup in 2020. With the weather set fair in the French capital, it promises to be a fascinating weekend of golf.
Betting Preview
Outright Winner
Plenty of big names are descending on Paris in what promises to be a hotly contested weekend of golf:-
Defending champion Alex Noren has not enjoyed his best season on the European Tour but he finished strongly at the Italian Open and has always enjoyed playing on the Le Golf National course.
Frenchman Michael Lorenzo Vera will be backed by home support in Paris and as his wait for a first win on the European Tour continues, he will be looking to build on his current ranking of 33.
Enigmatic Dutchman Joost Luiten looks to be over his injury problems and with 7 top 40 finishes in his last 7 starts, he could be primed to go deep in Paris this week.
Belgian Thomas Pieters faded badly at the Italian Open last time out but is a huge hitter that knows the course in Paris well and could be a real contender this week.
Young Austrian Matthias Schwab finished fourth at the Italian Open last week and second at the European Open last month and looks to be the man in red hot form in Paris this week.
1st Round Leader
Producing the goods over 72 holes is often the most difficult thing for any golfer to do therefore here are our first round leader picks:-
South African Erik van Rooyen has been one of the stars of the season on the European Tour and with confidence flowing through his veins; he could get off to a flyer here.
Englishman Jordan Smith has been one of the most consistent performers on the European Tour in 2019 and he will be looking to get off to yet another flying start here.
Following his second place finish at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship earlier in the month, Matthew Southgate looks full of confidence and should go well here in Paris.
Top Ten Finish
With so many quality players assembled here in Paris, getting into the winning enclosure could be tough but there are plenty of candidates to finish in the top 10 come Sunday:-
Two-time major winner Martin Kaymer continues to struggle for consistency on both the PGA and European Tours but the German will enjoy the course here in Paris and could challenge.
Emerging Belgian Thomas Detry has enjoyed a breakthrough year on the European Tour and he will be looking to continue his promise here in Paris with another good week.
Ross Fisher has slipped to just inside the top 100 on the European Tour following a difficult season but the Englishman is a class act and is more than capable of mounting a challenge this week,
BetXChange Best Bets:
Outright Winner: Joost Luiten – 18.00
1st Round Leader: Erik van Rooyen – 25.00
Top Ten Finish: Martin Kaymer – 3.00
