Open de Espana predictions: Ian Wilkerson's four tips include a 60-1 best bet

Open de Espana date, start time & TV info 

Date Thursday, October 9 to Sunday, October 12 2025
Course Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Start time 7.30am
TV Sky Sports Golf, from 10am Thursday

There is little surprise to see Jon Rahm as hot favourite to win the Spanish Open this week as the Ryder Cup hero has already claimed the trophy three times, winning twice at this week's Club de Campo Villa de Madrid venue and finishing runner-up to Angel Hidalgo 12 months ago.

His LIV colleagues Joaquin Niemann, David Puig and Patrick Reed also feature highly in the betting while Ireland's Shane Lowry will be looking to better last year's 13th spot.

Open de Espana predictions

Jayden Schaper
2pts each-way 60-1 Coral, Ladbrokes

Kristoffer Reitan
1.5pts each-way 25-1 Coral, Ladbrokes

Tom McKibbin
1pt each-way 28-1 Coral, Ladbrokes

Grant Forrest
1pt each-way 80--1 Betfair, Paddy Power

Open de Espana preview

Top tip

Jayden Schaper 60-1

Home players have won five of the last six Spanish Opens and the last non-European winner was Thomas Aiken 14 years ago, but his fellow South African Jayden Schaper could be about to buck that trend.

Schaper is still only 24 but the signs are there that a first DP World Tour title may not be far away.

Strong performances may have been anticipated - South African players tend to perform well on their home continent as Schaper did when he was fourth in the Kenya Open and ninth at the Joburg Open, while his fifth at the Qatar Masters was another fine showing.

Jayden Schaper looks big valueCredit: Getty Images

But he has performed well in Europe too, taking fifth spot at the Austrian Alpine Open, third at the KLM Open, tenth at the Italian and ninth at the French Open a fortnight ago.

His putting is admittedly an area of his game that he needs to continue working on , but other aspects are strong and even an average week with the flatstick could put him right in the mix.

Schaper was ninth at the Club de Campo Villa last year and that was after an opening 75, so it is a track he has got to grips with and all the ingredients are there for a bold show.

Next best bet

Kristoffer Reitan 25-1

Norway's Kristoffer Reitan has been one of the most consistent DP World Tour performers lately and another win cannot be far away.

He won the Soudal Open in May and has been a regular feature on leaderboards since, posting six top-six finishes, including fifth in both of his last two, the French Open and the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship last week.

Reitan missed the cut on his only course appearance six years ago, but the circumstances could hardly have been more different - he had failed to make the weekend in seven of his previous eight tournaments.

He heads to Madrid this time at the top of his game and is the seventh highest-ranked putter among the top 50 in the betting, so there is little reason to believe he won't flourish.

Other selections

Tom McKibbin 28-1
Grant Forrest 80-1

There is a strong collection of LIV talent heading to the Spanish capital but Northern Ireland's Tom McKibbin could be the one who flies under the radar.

He has had a half-decent first season on the breakaway tour with four top-ten finishes, including fourth spot in Spain at Valderrama in LIV Andalucia.

McKibbin has headed to Europe in search of world-ranking points and has shown consistent form, finishing 20th at the Irish Open, 11th at the BMW PGA at Wentworth and 15th at the Alfred Dunhill Links last week, so he could be a factor.

Grant Forrest has been excellent in recent links performances, winning the Nexo Championship in Aberdeen and he was then 11th in Fife last week.

However, don't rule him out on this different terrain as he tied for third last year and in 2021, so he is likely to be confident enough to go well at a hefty price.

Key stats for the Open de Espana

♦ Jon Rahm has won twice at this venue and was runner-up in last year's tournament
♦ Five of the last six winners have been Spanish
♦ There has not been a non-European winner since 2011
♦ The winning margin has been at least four shots in three of the last five Spanish Open. The other two went to playoffs

Read more top golf tips:

Baycurrent Classic predictions: Ian Wilkerson's three tips include a 25-1 best bet 

Spanish Open: Club de Campo Villa de Madrid course guide, start time, odds and how to watch 

Baycurrent Classic: Yokohama Country Club course guide, start time, odds and how to watch 

Click for free bets and betting offers from the Racing Post

Commercial notice: This article contains affiliate links. Offers are handpicked and come from operators our experts have first-hand experience of. Opening an account via one of these links will earn revenue for the Racing Post, which will be used to continue producing our award-winning coverage of horseracing and sports betting.