The European Tour heads to Antwerp, Belgium, this week for the Belgian Knockout, which gets underway Thursday at Rinkven International Golf Club. A full field of golfers will compete under traditional stroke play rules for the first two days to determine the 64 players that will advance to the weekend. Saturday’s knockout matches will consist of three nine-hole rounds played in a head-to-head stroke play format. With the field reduced to eight players, the final rounds will take place on Sunday. A number of Belgian players are scheduled to compete with Thomas Pieters the betting favorite at BookMaker.eu. Below is a list of matchups and odds.
Belgian Knockout Matchup Odds at BookMaker.eu
Niklas Lemke -110 vs. Nino Bertasio -120
Dimitrios Papadatos -135 vs. Hugo Leon +105
James Morrison -125 vs. Jinho Choi -105
Matthieu Pavon -110 vs. Nick Cullen -120
Sam Horsfield -115 vs. Alexander Levy -105
Phachara Khongwatmai -105 vs. Renato Paratore -125
Laurie Canter +105 vs. Lee Slattery -135
David Horsey -110 vs. Oliver Fisher -110
Darren Fichardt -115 vs. Joachim B. Hansen -105
Ashley Chesters -120 vs. Bradley Dredge -110
Oliver Farr +105 vs. Richard McEvoy -135
Jeff Winther -105 vs. George Coetzee -115
Nacho Elvira -130 vs. Soren Kjeldsen +110
Grant Forrest -110 vs. J.C. Ritchie -120
Haydn Porteous +105 vs. Tapio Pulkkanen -125
Louis De Jager -110 vs. Masahiro Kawamura -110
Oliver Wilson -125 vs. Gavin Green +105
Daan Huizing +105 vs. Dean Burmester -135
Thomas Detry -115 vs. Bernd Wiesberger -105
Victor Perez -125 vs. Maximilian Kieffer +105
Thomas Pieters -130 vs. Thomas Detry +110
Marc Warren +105 vs. Marcus Fraser -135
Guido Migliozzi -115 vs. Wade Ormsby -105
Adri Arnaus -110 vs. Gaganjeet Bhullar -110
Benjamin Hebert -110 vs. Chris Paisley -110
Chris Paisley +115 vs. Tom Lewis -135
Benjamin Hebert -105 vs. Tom Lewis -115
Thomas Pieters -125 vs. Bernd Wiesberger +105
Adrian Otaegui -115 vs. Richie Ramsay -105
Richie Ramsay -105 vs. Pablo Larrazabal -115
Justin Walters -135 vs. Lasse Jensen +105
Alejandro Canizares -115 vs. Michael Hoey -105
Nicolas Colsaerts -110 vs. Robert Rock -110
David Drysdale -110 vs. Gonzalo Fdez-Castano -120
John Catlin -125 vs. Max Schmitt -105
Matthew Southgate -115 vs. Marcus Kinhult -105
Matthias Schwab -120 vs. Andrea Pavan +100
Romain Langasque -115 vs. Robert MacIntyre -105
Adrian Otaegui -115 vs. Pablo Larrazabal -105
Ben Stow -110 vs. Callum Shinkwin -120
Need to Know
Adding intrigue and suspense to this week’s event, the format for the weekend is a unique head-to-head stroke play format. Match play records are a good indication of a player’s ability in this format. However, there are no gimmes and no maximum number of shots on a hole, so things can change quickly. We saw an example last year when Victor Perez gained three shots on a single hole to beat Oliver Fisher in the round of 16. Rinkven International Golf Club will host the BKO for the second straight season using a combination of holes from the two courses on the property. The layout will play under 7,000 yards at par 71 and isn’t considered difficult. Those who make it to the weekend will play a lot of golf on Saturday and fatigue could be a factor for the final matches on Sunday.
Belgian Knockout Matchup Picks
Adrian Otaegui -115 vs. Pablo Larrazabal
Blasting this course last year in the inaugural head-to-head format, Otaegui can’t be overlooked in any matchup. He reached the weekend in the No. 8 position after carding 69-68 and was under par in every knockout round to capture the title. He’s also proven to be a beast in head-to-head play with a win at the Paul Lawrie Match Play in 2017 and runner-up at this year’s World Super 6 Perth. His opponent Larrazabal was T4 last week in Denmark, but his match play record isn’t nearly as good.
Nicolas Colsaerts -110 vs. Robert Rock
Playing on home soil should be a boost for Colsaerts, like it was last year. And he sure could use some positive energy after a run of poor form. He missed the cut last week and hasn’t finished better than T27 in his last eight Euro circuit starts. But this could be the event that gets him going. He shot 68-71 to reach the weekend and scored below par in every knockout match and his -2 in the quarterfinals was the second-best of that round. However, his opponent had the best score.
Benjamin Hebert -105 vs. Tom Lewis
It’s been a mixed bag for Hebert lately with a playoff loss at the China Open the highlight of his season. He also was T7 at the Maybank Championship before going T51-T77 in his last two starts. He had a nice run to the final matchup here last year, qualifying for the knockout rounds with 68-69 and rode five sub-par rounds to the title match only to fall by two swings.
Richie Ramsay -105 vs. Pablo Larrazabal -115
I typically don’t go against a particular player more than once in matchups and it certainly is nothing against Larrazabal, but Otaegui and Ramsay have experienced this format and both enjoyed success last year. Ramsay made it to the weekend and posted the sixth-best score of the first knockout round, only to be matched against one of the five better scores. It didn’t help that Colsaerts had the home fans behind him. And I like Ramsay for his recent form and his style of play suits the Rinkven layout. Ramsay went T14-T5-T15 in his last three starts.
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