With the PGA Tour enjoying a week off before the TOUR Championship, the European Tour will have the spotlight to itself for the Italian Open this week. The best on that side of the Atlantic will make their way to the Golf Club Milano in Monza, Italy for the 73rd staging of one of the oldest events on the European Tour. There has been plenty of drama at this tournament over the years including a year ago when Rikard Karlberg won in a playoff and with a strong field of contenders the Italian Open should offer plenty of intrigue.
Event Details
Event: Italian Open
Category: European
Date: September 15-18
Location: Golf Club Milano, Monza, Italy
Martin Kaymer will headline the field for this year’s Italian Open with plenty of familiar names in the mix including Byeong Hun An, Masters winner Danny Willett and Matthew Fitzpatrick. This will be the eighth time the Golf Club Milano hosts this event after it returned to this course a year ago for the first tiem since 1990.
Past Five Winners
2015: Rickard Karlberg
2014: Hennie Otto
2013: Julien Quesne
2012: Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano
2011: Robert Rock
What To Know About The Course
The tree-lined course at the Golf Club Milano is described as being fairly tight with greens that ran slow. The rough was down last year and that allowed a number of contenders to put up strong numbers despite struggling with accuracy. That included the eventual winner Karlberg, who won in a playoff despite that he ranked 66th in Driving Accuracy. If the rough is down again this year then accuracy won’t be nearly as important as power and Greens In Regulation. There should be plenty of birdies at the Italian Open this weekend and whoever does the best job with the putter should have a strong chance to win this event outright.
The Field
Karlberg will enter this tournament as a +7000 underdog so the sportsbooks clearly aren’t expecting him to repeat after winning the Italian Open a year ago. The stronger likelihood is that one of the bigger names on the card delivers a strong enough performance to win with a number of options to choose from at the top. That includes last year’s runner-up Kaymer, who is listed as the sports betting favorite to win outright this week at +1200 odds. Byeong Hun An is expected to be in the mix as well at +1400 followed by Willett at +1600 odds. Fitzpatrick, Rafael Cabrera Bello and Joost Luiten round out the top six options on the board according to the sportsbooks ranging from +2000 to +2200 odds to win outright.
A Good Matchup To Bet: Matthew Fitzpatrick over Joost Luiten
Some won’t want to bet against Luiten following his win at the KLM Open but he has been spending a lot of time celebrating his strong play over the last week and we wonder if he will have the same focus that he had at this time last week. Winning back-to-back tournaments isn’t easy anyways and if he slips, Fitzpatrick should be among those who capitalizes. Fitzpatrick has finished fifth and seventh in his last two European Tour starts and he tied for third at the Italian Open a year ago. Fitzpatrick should be a strong pick to contend for the outright win and we like him as a strong pick in the head-to-head betting matchup with Luiten this week.
Top-Five Pick: Martin Kaymer
Kaymer was a runner-up at this tournament a year ago and he should have plenty of confidence following his Ryder Cup captain’s pick. He was three clear at the turn in 2015 before throwing his lead away but we don’t expect the same struggles down the stretch this year. The more likely outcome is that Kaymer maintains his composure and dominates from start to finish as an excellent bet to win this tournament outright. Kaymer appears to be the perfect option for those looking to bet on a top-five pick at the Italian Open.
Top 10 Odds To Win The Italian Open
Bernhard Langer +405
Vijay Singh +750
Woody Austin +1250
Kevin Sutherland +1550
Joe Durant +1650
Jeff Maggert +1850
Scott Dunlap +2050
Kirk Triplett +2550
Billy Mayfair +2550
David Frost +2550
