Francesco Molinari
Keith Allison

Martin Kaymer
Keith Allison

Nicolas Colsaerts
Kevin Murray

Rafa Cabrera-Bello
Kevin Murray

Romain Wattel
Kevin Murray

Just north of Turin, on the former royal hunting grounds of La Mandria regional park, you will find the Robert Trent Jones Snr designed Royal Park I Roveri course. Opened in 1971 it is regarded as one of Jones Snr best designed courses in Europe.

He has used the rich natural environment and gently undulating terrain to produce a beautiful track. This tree-lined and open parkland design has stunning mountain scenery as a backdrop. The hazards include numerous water ditches and small lakes, but its natural setting, excellent greens and beautiful mountain views make this a must play course for any golfer visiting Northern Italy.

It looks like there is going to be a strong field lining up this week at the BMW Italian Open and I think all the Ryder cup picks will be wanting to get a win before they tee up at Medinah Country Club, throw in a strong Italian showing and I think we are in for some great golf this week.

My tips to Win:

On home soil, two weeks away from the Ryder Cup, forth on the Order of Merit, with one win, two second place finishes and five other Top 10 finishes so far this season sees Francesco Molinari 9/1 as the bookies (and my) favourite to win here this week.

Martin Kaymer 20/1 started well last week with an opening round of 65 and then started to slide down the field, but I think the German will challenge here this week and that 65 shows he is not too far away, it's just a matter of time before he strings four great rounds together.

I didn’t think Nicolas Colsaerts 11/1 would do as well as he did last week, I felt the back slapping and congratulations on his Ryder Cup wild card pick, would slightly get the better of his golf game. To finish in the Top 10 at the Dutch Open has to be down to the character of the lad from Brussels, which bodes well for Medinah.

My each-way tips:

Rafa Cabrera-Bello 28/1 has not quite captured the early season form that saw him bag the Dubai Desert Classic title, but he has been in steady form with three other Top 5 finishes. A rest after his Top 10 finish at the Jonnie Walker Championship should see the Spaniard come into the end of season tournaments with a renewed determination.

I must admit it was strange to see Romain Wattel 40/1 miss the cut at last weeks Dutch Open after consecutive third and second place finishes, you would have thought the Frenchmen would have been challenging for his breakthrough win. But I am going to stick with him this week as I don’t think it’s going to be too long before he does pick up his first European Tour victory.

My outside tip:

Another home player this week who has started to find a bit of form over the last two weeks is Lorenzo Gagli 80/1. After several missed cuts he managed to make the cut at the European Masters and then make the Top 20 at last weeks KLM Dutch Open. It can always go two ways when players perform in front of a home crowd, but I am hoping Lorenzo’s new found confidence and the home support will be a positive for him this week.


As always good luck

Louis Oosthuizen
Bob Stap

Phil Mickelson
Kevin Murray

John Senden
Kevin Murray

Kevin Stadler
Keith Allison

Jeff Overton
Keith Allison

Jimmy Walker
Kevin Murray

The Dyes made a pilgrimage to Scotland in 1963 where they made a study of the classic courses. The use of pot bunkers, bulkheads constructed of wood and small greens were all going to have a strong influence on Dyes future thinking and course designs.

Crooked Stick Golf Club was the first track to benefit from the newly gained knowledge from their pilgrimage to Scotland. The Dyes and four colleagues spoke about their ambitious plans to build "the finest golf course in the area" and they did just that. With such enthusiasm we saw the birth of the Crooked Stick Golf Club two years later.

Crooked Stick was Pete Dye's first great golf course design, built in the mid-1960s on flat Indiana farmland that Dye transformed into a links blend patterned after the designs of Alister Mackenzie, Donald Ross and C.B. MacDonald. The course features wide fairways with fair landing areas and demanding approach shots.

Construction of the first nine holes was completed in 1965, with the back nine completed two years later. In all it has hosted the 1991 PGA Championship, won by John Daly.

Since the 1970s Crooked Stick has never not made Golf Digest's annual 'Top 100 Courses' which is some feat for a course that started out as a chat around a meal.

My tips to Win:

Tiger Woods7/1 and Rory McIlroy 6/1 are going to be stupid odds for this weeks BMW Championship, I obviously think they both have a great chance of winning, especially Tiger as he won't want Rory to be taking all the plaudits. So I am going to name other players who have better odds and on their four days have just as good a chance to win here this week.

I think Louis Oosthuizen 18/1 will be like a dog with a bone this weekend, I can’t see the South African sitting back and taking that defeat well and he’s final round 71 will feel like he shot 80 to lose the Deutsche Bank, so look for him to start like a bullet out of a gun and lead from start to finish.

Phil Mickelson 20/1 has been fighting his driver all year - I'm thinking Butch Harmon should have taken the pair to counselling it was getting that bad, but something has clicked and a final round of 66 and three rounds of 68 saw the Californian coming back into form that won him his four major championships.

I have had a feeling about John Senden 66/1 winning a big tournament all year and the Queenslander has had eleven Top 25s from twenty starts, five of those coming in the Top 10. It has been a long time coming. John turned pro in 1992 but I don’t think it’s going to be long before this Australian makes his mark.

My each-way tips:

A lot of the players I have named to win this week are probably obvious but it's really just finding the right odds for who you fancy, so for the each-way bets I am going to go for some left field players who could get into the Top 5 and first up is Kevin Stadler 90/1, who in the last two play-off events has made the Top 10 and seems to be on a little roll. As I am writing this his odds are not up yet, but I think he could be good value this week.

Another player who seems to have found a bit of form after some early season Top 5 finishes is Jeff Overton 70/1, finishing in the Top 10 last week with his opening round of 64 and his two final rounds in the 60s sees the lad from Indiana not far away from stringing four good rounds together.

My Outside tip:

It wasn’t a good week last week for Jimmy Walker 125/1 but a final round 68 saw him salvage something from the week and hopefully he will be teeing it up with a bit of confidence here where he can make his third Top 5 finish of the year so far.


As always good luck