What a week in Scotland! We successfully tipped up Ryan Fox to win The Alfred Dunhill at 70/1 as well as two partial places on Tyrell Hatton (16/1) and long time leader Richard Mansell (110/1). We're back with another full preview of the next instalment on the DP World Tour as we move into Iberia and four straight weeks from Spain and Portugal. First up it's the Open de Espana and we've got four more picks that will hopefully keep up our hot streak.
Open de Espana 2022 Tips
History
The Open de Espana is the national open golf tournament of Spain and dates back to 1912. The event has been part of the European Tour since its inception in 1972 and is being held at the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid in 2022, for its 10th time.
Several Spaniards have won this title, including Ángel de la Torre (5 times), Seve Ballesteros (3 times) , Sergio Garcia, Miguel Ángel Jiménez and more recently Jon Rahm (twice). Another Spaniard Rafa Cabrera-Bello is the defending champion, having won with a score of -19 last year.
The total prize fund on offer this week is €1.5m.
The Course
The Black course at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid is a 7,112 yard, Par 71 challenge, that was originally opened in 1956. It was designed by Spaniard Javier de Arana and due to his partnership with English designer Tom Simpson, Arana tried to design courses with the fundamental principle that the layout of obstacles in golf courses should be done in a manner that would require intelligence and not only skill to avoid them.
The course is just 4km northwest of Madrid city centre and has a huge public membership of over 10000 members. The entire length of the course spirals around the club house, which is sat on top of Cerro del Aguila hill. Arana was forced to make ingenious usage of the slopes to give the player the sense they were on a golf course and not hillwalking. The greens are surrounded by large, deep bunkers and the layout of the fairways encourages clever placement , rather than huge driving distances.
The Field
World #6 Jon Rahm is seeking his third Spanish Open title and the bookmakers have him a huge 9/4 favourite to do so. Next in the betting is Englishman Tommy Fleetwood (#30) at 15/2, followed by another Spaniard Adri Arnaus (#71) at 18/1. Last year's winner Rafa Cabrero-Bello is available at 35/1 if you fancy a repeat.
Golf Odds
2.5u Adri Arnaus each-way (1/5 6 places) - 18/1
Obviously Jon Rahm and Tommy Fleetwood are the stand out favourites here but are too short for me to justify backing them. I'm going to start my selections at 18/1 and Spaniard Adri Arnaus. The 27-year-old fought his way into a two way playoff last year, where he was beaten at the first hole by Rafa Cabrero-Bello (more on him soon). This performance from the Barcelona native solidified his steady form here, where he also finished T4th in 2019. He missed the cut back in 2018 but it was at a different course in Madrid.
The Texas A&M alum has had a stand out year on tour, picking up his first win, again in Spain, at the Catalunya Championship, as well as another playoff loss at the MyGolfLife Open. His recent form is mixed but he played well at the European Masters (T9th) and at last weeks Alfred Dunhill (T22nd). I can see Arnaus going deep in this tournament once again this week.
1.5u Jorge Campillo each-way (1/5 6 places) - 35/1
You might start to see a theme here. Generally Spaniards do really well here and I have followed that theme for the majority of my picks. A two-time Tour winner, the 36-year-old has had a really solid year, missing just five cuts in 25 starts, with nine T25's along the way. Campillo picked up a T4th at the European Masters and a T9th at the Italian Open. His recent form on this track isn't amazing, finishing T45th and a missed cut in the last two outings but should go much better on his third time round Club de Campo Villa. He T5th in 2018 at the neighbouring Centro Nacional de Golf.
1.5u Rafa Cabrero-Bello each-way (1/5 6 places) - 35/1
Our third Spaniard and last year's winner, Cabrero-Bello loves it in Madrid, adding a 2nd place in 2019 to his win last year. He is however, having a poor year by his standards, with three T25's alongside a whole litany of missed cuts. The 38-year-old is a four time winner on the tour so knows how to get the job done when he puts himself in the right position. A 9th placed finish at the recent BMW PGA shows he is recovering his form and should be ideally set up for a good run here.
1u Renato Paratore each-way (1/5 6 places) - 125/1
What's that? An Italian? Sacrilege! I've broken from my run of Spaniards to include the 25-year-old Roman. Paratore is one of the most frustrating players on tour to follow, is a two time tour winner and is capable of the sublime and well as the ridiculous. He has 16 missed cuts this season as well as two top 5's. Take last week at the Alfred Dunhill where he shot two 70's alongside a second round 84. The Italian likes it round this track, finishing T9th last year.
Bet on the Open de Espana with Betfred here
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