We are now one week away from the BMW PGA Championship. The final stop before the European Tour’s flagship tournament is The Rocco Forte Open, which will take place at the Verdura Golf & Spa Resort in Sicily, Italy this week. This will be the inaugural edition of this event. However, it won’t be the first European Tour event played at this course as the Sicily Open was played here twice at a similar time in the year in both 2011 and 2012. This very much looks like a rebranding of the Sicily Open. The lack of big names means this event could be a little tougher to handicap this week.
Event Details
Event: The Rocco Forte Open – Verdura
Category: European
Date: May 18-21
Location: Verdura Golf & Spa Resort, Sicily, Italy
Raphael Jacquelin won the inaugural Sicily Open at a different course. A year later, Thorbjorn Olesen claimed him first European Tour title at the Verdura course. Experience should count for something this week and that makes the home contingent worth taking a longer look at.
Taking a look at the updated standings, Sergio Garcia currently leads the Race to Dubai. He is the only golfer with more than two million points. The top five is rounded out with Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, Justin Rose, and Bernd Wieseberger. Outside of that group, Ross Fisher (who is in sixth place) is the only other golfer over a million points.
Past Sicily Open Winners
2012: Thorbjorn Olesen -15
2011: Raphael Jacquelin -12
What To Know About The Course
The Verdura course is set against the backdrop of the azure Mediterranean Sea, which means that the wind could play a significant role this week. The East and West course composite used five years ago had a very distinct links feel so previous links form might be worth taking in to consideration ahead of this event. Water will be in play on holes three to eight as well as holes 15, 16 and 18. The fairways are narrower than average so accuracy off the tee could be a little more important this week than at some other events.
The Field
The field is a lot weaker than in previous tournaments in large part because a lot of players are taking off this final week before the BMW PGA Championship. Jordan Smith headlines this week’s field as the sports betting favorite to win this event outright at +1600 odds. Haotong Li, James Morrison and hometown favorite Matteo Manassero are all expected to be in the mix as well among the sports betting favorites. There are a number of veteran European players that will compete this week as well including Raphael Jacquelin, Jamie Donaldson, Marcus Fraser and David Howell.
A Good Matchup To Bet: Raphael Jacquelin over Jeunghun Wang
While Wang has produced some quality results over the past few months we like the idea of fading him in favor of a strong value pick in Jacquelin. There are a number of older European players with experience at this course that will have the opportunity to get on track with a strong result this week and Jacquelin is one of them. If Jacquelin can turn back the clock with a strong performance this week then he should be able to upset Wang and deliver as a strong value pick in the head-to-head sports betting matchup for The Rocco Forte Open this week.
Top-Five Pick: James Morrison
While fellow Englishman Jordan Smith is the favorite to win this event, we prefer to stick with Morrison as the better option to finish in the top-five this week. Morrison has shown flashes of his immense potential all year and he had a strong start in his appearance at the Sicily Open back in 2012. Morrison is among the few golfers with experience at this course and we expect it to pay off. He might not win this event outright, but Morrison should place in the top-five at The Rocco Forte Open.
Odds To Win Rocco Forte Open
Jordan Smith +1550
Haotong Li +2050
James Morrison +2050
Phachara Khongwatmai +2550
Bradley Dredge +2850
David Horsey +3050
Matteo Manassero +2750
Richard Bland +3250
Trevor Fisher Jnr +3250
Thomas Detry +3250
Nicolas Colsaerts +3250
Chris Hanson +3250
Scott Jamieson +3550
Julien Quesne +3550
Rikard Karlberg +3550
Matt Wallace +3550
Renato Paratore +4050
Max Orrin +4050
Alexander Bjork +4050
Raphael Jacquelin +4550
Ryan Fox +5050
Mark Foster +5050
Romain Langasque +4050
Matthew Southgate +5500
Mikko Korhonen +5500
Romain Wattel +5500
Oliver Fisher +5500
Marcus Fraser +5500
Wade Ormsby +6550
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