Noren delivered a thrilling playoff victory when he sank a 25-foot birdie putt to take the Omega European Masters in a head-to-head showdown with Scott Hend on the extra hole last week. The European Tour will shift to the Netherlands and the Kennemer Golf & Country Club looking to build on last week’s drama with the KLM Open this week.
Event Details
Event: KLM Open
Category: European
Date: September 8-11
Location: Kennemer Golf & Country Club, Netherlands
Thomas Pieters won this event last year when he recorded a tournament-best 19-under score to barely edge out a one-stroke victory over Eduardo de la Riva and Lee Slattery. Pieters returns as the obvious sports betting favorite for this year’s KLM Open and it will be interesting to see if he can live up to expectations matched up against another relatively strong field.
Past Five Winners
2015: Thomas Pieters -19
2014: Paul Casey -14
2013: Joost Luiten -12
2012: Peter Hanson -14
2011: Sam Dyson -12
What To Know About The Course
The Kennemer Golf & Country Club features some of the best greens on the European Tour and its championship design should make it a difficult course for even the best on the European Tour. It will be that much more difficult for those that struggle to find the fairways as the rough is extremely thick. The wind could also play a significant role and that will making Driving Accuracy that much more important.
The Field
Pieters is the obvious sports betting favorite at +800 odds and there is no doubt he will be a popular pick. When you take a look at his recent track record, he has been one of the hottest golfers on the Tour. He won his last event at the Made In Denmark, which was quite impressive. Then he finished second at the D+D REAL Czech Masters and then he finished fourth at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. That now makes three straight top fives for him.
Alex Noren is in fine form following his victory last week at the Omeage European Masters, so it should be no surprise that he is in the mix at +1000 odds. He’s also been pretty hot as he finished second at the Aberdeen Asset Management Paul Lawrie Match Play. Overall, he has finished in the Top 10 in four of his last six events, including a pair of wins.
Joost Luiten is next in line at +1500 odds. He finished 27th at the Olympic Men’s Golf competition in the Summer Olympics, which was a so-so result. However, before that, he didn’t finish in the Top 100 in either of his previous two events.
He’s followed by Byeong Hun An, Bernd Wiesberger and Thongchai Jaidee among the sports betting favorites.
A Good Matchup To Bet: Joost Luiten over Alex Noren
Noren is in excellent form following last week’s thrilling playoff win but we are projecting somewhat of a letdown at the KLM Open this week. Noren should contend but he won’t keep up with the home favorite Luiten, who has posted some strong results at this tournament in the past. Luiten will look to bounce back from a disappointing 23rd-place finish at this tournament a year ago and we like him to deliver the victory in the head-to-head sports betting matchup with Noren while also having a really good chance to win this tournament for the first time since he did it in 2013.
Top-Five Pick: Thomas Pieters
The defending tournament champion is in fine form and he will have the added motivation to prove Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke made the right choice for his European Tour team when he competes this weekend. Pieters followed up a fourth-place finish at the Olympics with a runner-up finish at the Czech Masters and another strong outing with a win at the Made in Denmark tournament. Pieters’ tournament history combined with his recent form suggests that he should deliver another strong performance this weekend and we love him as a lock to finish in the top-five at the KLM Open.
Top 10 Odds To Win The KLM Open
Thomas Pieters +750
Alex Noren +850
Byeong Hun An +1550
Joost Luiten +1550
Thongchai Jaidee +2050
Bernd Wiesberger +2050
Nicolas Colsaerts +3050
Pablo Larrazabal +3250
Chris Wood +3250
Robert Karlsson +4050
