Steve Palmer's Soudal Open predictions & free golf betting tips

Golf tips, best bets and player analysis for the Soudal Open at Rinkven International on the DP World Tour.

Where to watch

Live on Sky Sports Main Event and Golf from midday on Thursday

Best bets

Adrian Otaegui
3pts each-way 25-1 Betfair, Power

Victor Perez
2.5pts each-way 30-1 bet365

Ewen Ferguson
1.5pts each-way 80-1 Coral, Ladbrokes

Clement Sordet
1pt each-way 150-1 Betfair, Power

Jack Singh Brar
0.5pt each-way 200-1 bet365

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Thomas Pieters and Thomas Detry - the two darlings of Belgian golf - will hog the spotlight in the early stages of the Soudal Open. Much will be expected from both in terms of event promotion - and the tournament sponsors will be hoping the local lads can feature on the leaderboard.

Pieters, by far the best player in the field according to the world rankings, lives in Antwerp and has been preparing for the Soudal Open ever since missing the cut in the Masters. Course knowledge will help, but a tree-lined track with only two par-fives is not perfect terrain for him, and he has flopped previously in the Belgian Knockout.

Steve Palmer's top tip

Adrian Otaegui 25-1

If Pieters fails to live up to his billing and lets down the expectant Belgian galleries again, the Soudal Open would become a golden opportunity for Adrian Otaegui to threaten a fourth DP World Tour title.

The second of Otaegui's three triumphs came in the 2018 Belgian Knockout at Rinkven. The course sets up wonderfully for this short but accurate hitter and he went well in his title defence a year later until losing to eventual champion Guido Migliozzi.

Otaegui relishes the venue and is in fantastic nick, having finished third in the Ras al Khaimah Championship in February, fifth in the Qatar Masters in March, second in the ISPS Handa Championship last month, then a decent 27th at The Belfry on Sunday.

Pieters and Otaegui should arguably be jostling for favouritism. Pieters is a world-class talent, but Otaegui is probably better suited to this layout, and the Spaniard gets the nod at the odds.

Next best bet

Victor Perez 30-1

Perhaps third place in the betting should belong to Victor Perez, who appears to be getting back to his best after a fallow period. The former world number 30 was eighth in the ISPS Handa Championship last month, then 21st at The Belfry last week. Every department of his game seems to be coming together - and he tees up this week at a track he knows and likes.

Despite turning up for the 2018 Belgian Knockout as an inexperienced world number 376, Perez finished third in the strokeplay element of the event, then progressed to the quarter-finals in the matches. The 29-year-old looks ready to deliver a four-round performance this time.

Other selections

Ewen Ferguson 80-1

Clement Sordet 150-1

Jack Singh Brar 200-1

Like Perez, Ewen Ferguson performed superbly at Rinkven long before he became a DP World Tour champion. The Scot was third in the 2019 Belgian Knockout, which was his career-best result until he bravely won the Qatar Masters at the end of March.

Ferguson led the Kenya Open by four shots in early March, carding a Sunday 77 to finish eighth, but he took the setback well and just three weeks later became a champion. The rookie showed great guts under intense pressure to get over the line in front in Qatar - and the accurate 25-year-old Glaswegian can be fancied to thrive at a happy hunting ground this week.

Complete a five-pronged attack with Clement Sordet and Jack Singh Brar. Sordet turns 30 in October threatening to waste an enormous talent. He is yet to win on the main circuit, but the Frenchman has five titles to his name on the Challenge Tour, the most recent coming in South Africa a few weeks ago.

Sordet has got his act together over the last three months and is good enough to contend in this grade, while Singh Brar appears to have rediscovered fitness and form. Injuries have hampered the progress of the 25-year-old Southampton lad, but 15th place in the ISPS Handa was encouraging, followed by 27th spot at The Belfry. In his only Belgian Knockout, he came through the strokeplay element before losing a tight, high-quality match to Sebastian Soderberg. Rinkven suits Singh Brar, who typically finds fairways, putts well, and is full of potential.

Players to note

Rafael Cabrera Bello
The Spanish plodder finished second in the 2005 European Amateur Championship at Rinkven. The course sets up well for him.

Alexander Bjork
Rinkven seems the sort of layout where the tidy Swede could threaten, but his 2022 form is unimpressive.

Rinkven International course guide

Course Rinkven International, Antwerp, Belgium
Prize money $2m ($333,330 to the winner)
Length 6,924 yards
Par 71 - two par-fives; 13 par-fours; three par-threes
Field 156 The cut Top 65 and ties qualify for round three
Highest-ranked players in field (world rankings in brackets) Thomas Pieters (36), Bernd Wiesberger (82), Oliver Bekker (89), Daniel van Tonder (103), Justin Harding (104)

Course records - 36 holes strokeplay 130 Chris Paisley (2019) 18 holes strokeplay 63 Anton Karlsson (2019)

Course winners taking part Lee Slattery, Adrian Otaegui, Guido Migliozzi

When to bet By 6.30am on Thursday

When to watch Live on Sky Sports Main Event and Golf from midday on Thursday

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

Last week - British Masters 1 T Olesen (70-1), 2 S Soderberg (200-1), T3 R Ramsay (140-1), C Syme (150-1), J Walters (150-1), T6 C Hanna (150-1), H Long (150-1), T8 J Brun (90-1), J Donaldson (200-1), R Fox (35-1), M Korhonen (55-1), R Langasque (75-1), R Mansell (140-1), JC Ritchie (125-1), F Zanotti (110-1)

Course type Parkland

Course overview The European Tour returned to Belgium after an 18-year absence with the inaugural Belgian Knockout at Rinkven International in 2018 - a strokeplay event for two rounds before a series of nine-hole matches - then there was a repeat in 2019. The event has been revamped for this week as a 72-hole strokeplay event. Rinkven is a 36-hole complex and a mixture of the South and North courses are used for this event. Six of the 13 par-fours are sub-400 yards. The 2010 Telenet Trophy was staged at Rinkven on the Challenge Tour and the 2005 European Amateur Championship

Story of 2019 Guido Migliozzi beat Darius van Driel in the final of the Belgian Knockout

Weather forecast Sunny for the most part, especially at the weekend, with temperatures peaking at 23C. Moderate breezes for the first two days, becoming more gentle at weekend

Type of player suited to the challenge A succession of short par-fours make this a straightforward assignment. A hot putter seems essential for what should be a low-scoring week

Key attribute Touch/putting

Spotlight insight None of the 15 European Tour events staged in Belgium have been won by a Belgian

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