One of the world’s longest running golf tournaments will take place once again this week with some of the best on the European Tour making their way to Le Golf National in Paris, France for the 100th edition of the Open de France. Rory McIlroy will headline this year’s class of competitors as the obvious favorite, which runs during the same week as the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational because of rescheduling due to the Olympics. A lot of the big names stayed in North America, though, which means we won’t see 40 of the top 50 players in the world. While we do get McIlroy here, we won’t see the recently minted U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson, we won’t see Jason Day and Jordan Spieth will also be absent from action.
Event Details
Event: Open de France
Category: European
Date: June 30-July 3
Location: Le Golf National, Paris, France
Graeme McDowell won this event in back-to-back years in 2013 and 2014 before Bernd Wiesberger won in 2015 with a 13-under score that nearly matched McDowell’s combined winning totals. The field will have a much different look this year with 10 of the top-50 players in the world competing led by the current world No. 3 in McIlroy.
Past Five Winners
2015: Bernd Wiesberger -13
2014: Graeme McDowell -5
2013: Graeme McDowell -9
2012: Marcel Siem -8
2011: Thomas Levet -7
What To Know About The Course
Two of the last four winners have ranked inside the top-five in Driving Distance but Wiesberger and Marcel Siem are the only two winners to rank inside the top-19 in that category over the last 12 years. The key stat to look for this week will be Greens in Regulation as seven of the last 11 winners here have ranked inside the top-three in that category. This year’s winner might not need to drive the ball hard or be lights out on the greens but he likely will need to scramble well and post a solid average in the GIR department.
The Field
McIlroy missed the cut at the U.S. Open but that rough start came on the heels of five-straight top-25 finishes including a top-10 finish at The Masters and the sportsbooks are holding his struggles at Oakmont against him as the betting favorite to win the Open de France outright at +450 odds. There is a major drop off after that according to the odds with Martin Kaymer listed at +1400 odds followed by Francesco Molinari, Lee Westwood and Masters winner Danny Willett at +1600. Graeme McDowell, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Wiesberger, Chris Wood and Joost Luiten round out the top-10 in terms of the betting odds to win this tournament outright.
A Good Matchup To Bet: Rory McIlroy over Martin Kaymer
McIlroy was rolling before he finally stumbled at the U.S. Open and we fully expect him to bounce back this week as the outright betting favorite. McIlroy finally broke through with a win at the Irish Open earlier this year and he should be in fine form with the Open championship right around the corner. Meanwhile, Kaymer has registered four consecutive finishes outside of the top-35 and we won’t trust him to beat out McIlroy in the head-to-head betting matchup this week.
Top Five Pick: James Morrison
One of the most intriguing plays on the board for this weekend will be the +8500 longshot Morrison, who probably shouldn’t be listed at such long odds at this point. Morrison was the runner-up at this tournament a year ago and he recorded a fourth-place finish at the Lyoness Open just a couple of weeks ago. Not only does he have a strong course history here that we can (hopefully) rely on, he has had a little wind at his back with some strong recent performances.
Morrison withdrew from the BMW International Open in his latest start but there has been no reason to doubt his status for this week’s event and it wouldn’t shock anybody if he records another top-five finish.
Top 10 Odds To Win Open de France
Rory McIlroy +450
Martin Kaymer +1250
Lee Westwood +1550
Francesco Molinari +1550
Graeme McDowell +1650
Danny Willett +1850
Matthew Fitzpatrick +2250
Chris Wood +2550
Rafael Cabrera Bello +2550
Joost Luiten +2550
