Rinkven International to "guido" Migliozzi to more success in Belgium

Guido Migliozzi booked his spot to the US Open at Oakmont finishing t2 at Walton Heath

DP World Tour action returns this week and Rinkven International takes centre stage for the Soudal Open. The field is decent and several players have travelled over from Walton Heath after US Open qualifying. On the line this week is a purse of around 2.5m EUR and 3500 Race to Dubai points.

The Soudal Open (as it's now called) used to be a mix of Strokeplay and Matchplay in the form of the Belgian Knockout. For the past three years it's been Strokeplay only and I expect the winning total to be pushing 20-under par. 

The Rinkven International GC track is a mix of parkland and woodland terrain. Several fairways are severely doglegged with a tall treeline. Several greens are on a plateau. Rinkven is a par 71 playing under 7,000 yards incorporating just two par fives and three par 3s which makes the course a little different to the norm. Par four scoring will be a key metric this week.

Soudal Open: Top of the market

Leading the market at 20/1 is home favourite and LIV golfer Thomas Pieters who came close to winning last year. Jordan Smith 22/1 travels over from Walton Heath having secured his US Open spot at the head of the pack. 

Nacho Elvira 80/1 will defend after winning the Soudal Open with a score of 18-under par in 2024. Haotong Li has been in form of late and you can get prices as high as 28/1 on the Chinese star.

Nic's top tips for the Soudal Open

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Guido Migliozzi 40/1 each way also secured his US Open spot and the Italian won the Matchplay version of this event in 2019. Migliozzi was top 25 in the Strokeplay last year, leading the strokes gained approach stats. Following a t17 in Turkey last week Migliozzi was t2 in the 36 hole marathon at Walton Heath on 9-under par to book a spot at Oakmont.

Sam Bairstow 40/1 each way has been on my radar recently and he carded a second round 6-under par at Walton Heath to also land a US Open plane ticket. The 26-year-old is 25th on tour in 'stroke average' and his form line reads 26-6-7-5. Bairstow finished top 10 last year at the Soudal Open where he was third in strokes gained approach...