Porsche European Open betting preview, lowdown, free tips & TV details

Start time

6.30am Thursday

Where to watch

Sky Sports Golf, from 10am Thursday

Best bets

A Arnaus
2pts each-way 33-1 Sky Bet
R Paratore
1pt each-way 50-1 Sky Bet
S Horsfield
1pt each-way 55-1 Betfred
G Migliozzi
1pt each-way 100-1 Sky Bet
R Wattel
0.5pt each-way 200-1 Betfred

Tournament preview

Paul Casey and a trio of American challengers head the betting for the European Open which will be staged for the third time at the ultra-long Green Eagle North Course on the outskirts of Hamburg.

Xander Schauffele is the man to beat according to the odds. The world number nine, who has a German father, finished second in the Tour Championship on the PGA Tour when last seen and was well supported when the market opened on Monday.

He is joined by fellow US Ryder Cup colleagues Patrick Reed and Matt Kuchar and, while those elite golfers are sure to be in the mix, Rory McIlroy’s playoff defeat at Crans-sur-Sierre last Sunday should serve warning to any punters wishing to take short odds.

Joe Champion’s top tip
Adri Arnaus 33-1

The North Course is a monstrous layout which can play to over 7,800 yards should tournament organisers insist on using the back tees and that hands a significant advantage to longer hitters. The Hamburg track features five par-five holes and performances on the back nine, with par fives at the 11th, 15th, 16th and 17th, could prove pivotal.

Jordan Smith thrived at the track in 2017, the aggressive Bath slugger ranking third for average driving distance, but it was a different story when the shorter Richard McEvoy won the title a year later. But, with rain around in recent days, the course should favour those who hit the ball a long way.

Adri Arnaus falls firmly into that category and the young Spaniard can count on his prodigious driving ability to make a much-anticipated breakthrough at European Tour level.

The 24-year-old Barcelona man was a high-class amateur player and has been steadily making his way through the European ranks, winning twice on the Alps Tour and once on the Challenge Tour before a hugely impressive 2019 European Tour season.

Arnaus finished ninth at the Alfred Dunhill in South Africa in December and second in Kenya in March and has only improved since the tour returned to continental Europe. He was the best of the rest behind runaway leader Christiaan Bezuidenhout at the Andalucia Masters and found only Thomas Pieters too strong on a similarly bomber-heavy track at the Czech Masters.

Some poor final-round putting proved the difference between first and second in Prague and Arnaus missed the cut in Sweden a week later, but he returned to form at Crans last week, carding a Sunday 64 to finish a shot out the five-man playoff.

Arnaus is already an elite player with driver in hand, ranking 19th on the European Tour for average driving distance and second in strokes gained off the tee. The rapid improver looks ready to add a victory to an already excellent rookie year.

Next best bet
Renato Paratore 50-1

Touted as the next big thing a few years ago, Renato Paratore is yet to add to the title which he won at the 2017 Nordea Masters but the Italian is trending in the right direction and could contend again at the scene of one of his best performances.

Paratore, still only 22 but with five years of European Tour experience under his belt, finished second behind McEvoy at the 2018 European Open and a host of strong recent showings have advanced his claims.

A former amateur star, Paratore finished 28th in Scotland, 39th in the Czech Republic, 20th in Sweden and 12th in Switzerland in his last four tour starts and is respected in the market this week as a result.

His Crans-sur-Sierre finish, on a track where he has missed back-to-back cuts, is a particular eye-catching and, in addition to last year’s fine Hamburg effort, he also finished in a tie for sixth in Germany at the BMW International Open two years ago.

Other betting selections
Sam Horsfield 55-1
Guido Migliozzi 100-1
Romain Wattel 200-1

Englishmen have performed well in this event since its rebirth in Germany in 2015 - Graeme Storm and Ross Fisher were runners-up in 2015 and 2016 - and there’s every chance that young Sam Horsfield can add his name to the European Open roll of honour.

A power player who ranks 27th for strokes gained off the tee, the 23-year-old Manchester man looked in great touch when finishing third behind Pieters and Arnaus at the Czech and followed up with another top-ten finish at the Scandinavian Invitation.

Tied 21st in Munich in June, Horsfield put in four respectable rounds at Crans last week and Green Eagle looked a perfect fit on debut in 2018 before a disastrous final-round 78 ruined an otherwise excellent showing.

Horsfield, who went into Sunday just six shots off the lead last year, carded a nine at the par-three 17th to fall miles down the leaderboard but showed his resolve to immediately bounce back with an eagle at the final hole. A year older and wiser, he can atone for those mistakes.

Guido Migliozzi is already a two-time winner this season and, while this represents a step up for the Italian ace, the 22-year-old is another young contender who could light up Hamburg this week.

Migliozzi, a champion in Kenya and Belgium in 2019, has a power-packed game, ranking 17th in strokes gained off the tee, and has already proven himself to have a winning mentality which other players can lack.

Romain Wattel is an outsider who is more likely to miss the cut than contend, having made the weekend just four times this season, but the inconsistent Frenchman is a European Tour winner who is capable of going close when he clicks into gear.

Wattel’s best finish of last season came when he finished fifth at Green Eagle and he was 14th at the Czech Masters three weeks ago on a course where his distance off the tee was to the fore.

Others to note
Thomas Pieters

The Belgian bomber returned to form at the Czech Masters and finished 12th in Crans despite failing to finish better than 60th in three previous Switzerland appearances. He is feared again with confidence high.

Alexander Levy

The flashy Frenchman was beaten in a playoff at Green Eagle in 2017. He missed the cut at Crans but previously 18th in Prague and fifth in Sweden.

Lucas Herbert

A big-hitting Australian who looked a star in the making with seven top-ten finishes last season. He bounced back to form with a closing 64 to finish eighth in the Alps and this test is much more to his liking.

Matthias Schwab

The young Austrian is comfortable in Germany, finishing seventh in this event last year and third in Munich in June. He has since finished a tie for fifth in Prague and recorded another top-ten finish last week.

Tournament lowdown

Course North Course, Green Eagle Golf Courses, Hamburg, Germany
Prize Money €2m (€333,330 to the winner)

Length 7,583 yards Par 72 Field 156

Course records – 72 holes 275 Jordan Smith, Alexander Levy (2017) 18 holes 65 Eric Ramsay (2010 ECCO Tour Championship), Mikko Ilonen (2017), Richard McEvoy, Jeunghun Wang, Jonathan Thomson (2018)

Course winners taking part Jordan Smith, Richard McEvoy

When to bet By 6.30am Thursday

Where to watch Live on Sky Sports from 10am Thursday

Time difference Germany is one hour ahead of the UK and Ireland

Last week – European Masters 1 S Soderberg (275-1), 2 R McIlroy (9-2), K Samooja (400-1), A Romero (300-1), L Gagli (400-1), 6 A Arnaus (110-1), M Lorenzo-Vera (45-1)

Course overview The European Open is being staged in Germany for the fifth time and at the ultra-long Green Eagle Golf Courses complex for the third time.

The North Course at Green Eagle hosted a Challenge Tour event in 2010 – the ECCO Tour Championship. Andreas Harto won the tournament with an eight-under-par total on what was a par-73 layout, and Jordan Smith and Richard McEvoy won the two European Tour events staged at the track.

The North Course, which measures in at 7,836 yards from the back tees, is billed by event organisers as the longest course on the European Tour and the most difficult track in Germany. There are six par-fives on the standard scorecard – the fourth, ninth, 11th, 15th, 16th and 18th – but the fourth will play as a par four for the third year running on a layout which features plenty of water hazards.

The story of last year American slowcoach Bryson DeChambeau was tied for the lead alongside Richard McEvoy but finished bogey-bogey-par-treble bogey to end up 12th as the Englishman birdied the 18th to win his first European Tour title at his 285th attempt.

Weather forecast There has been rain in the build-up to the tournament which has softened the long Green Eagle fairways. Relatively dry days are forecast on Thursday, Friday and Saturday but there is likely to be rain around for Sunday’s final round.

Type of player suited to challenge This is an enormous layout which favours powerhouses who can fully attack the five par-fives.

Key attribute Power

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