'This powerhouse has come on leaps and bounds and looks set for a golden summer' - Steve Palmer has four tips for the BMW International Open

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When to bet on the BMW International Open

By 5.40am on Thursday

Where can I watch the BMW International Open?

Live on Sky Sports Golf from 11.30am on Thursday

Steve Palmer's BMW International Open predictions

Marco Penge
3pts each-way 30-1 Betfair

Matti Schmid
3pts each-way 30-1 Betfair

Daniel Hillier
2pts each-way 66-1 Coral, Ladbrokes

Gavin Green
1pt each-way 110-1 Paddy Power

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Steve Palmer's BMW International Open preview

Patrick Reed is looking to follow up his LIV Dallas glory with a DP World Tour success, seeking to further catch the eye of American Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley. Reed is desperate to make a Ryder Cup return but needs to sustain his form over the summer.

After a long journey from Texas to a different type of course, Reed seems plenty short enough in the betting, while Sergio Garcia also appears to represent poor value. Garcia, who will probably not putt well enough to reach the low winning total required at Eichenried, may be feeling awkward this week in a field containing players he has fallen out with. Eugenio Chacarra, who Garcia dropped from his LIV Fireballs team at the end of last season, is teeing up in Munich.

Steve Palmer's top tip

Marco Penge 30-1

A three-shot victory in the Hainan Classic at the end of April was a maiden DP World Tour success for Marco Penge and the 27-year-old can be fancied to threaten a follow-up triumph in the BMW International Open.

Penge enjoyed two comfortable victories on the Challenge Tour in 2023 – a four-shot romp in Portugal and a six-shot cruise in the Grand Final – but struggled to settle as a DPWT rookie last year. This season the Horsham-born powerhouse has come on leaps and bounds and looks set for a golden summer.

A ban for betting on tournaments in which he was not playing meant Penge could not start his DPWT campaign until the Kenya Open at the end of February. He finished 20th in Kenya, before third spot in the South African Open.

Hainan Classic glory was followed by 28th place in the US PGA Championship – a magnificent performance on his Stateside Major debut – and he has done well in his last two starts at unsuitable courses. A share of 25th place in the Soudal Open was followed by 21st in Italy on a bone-dry layout where the par-fives could not really be attacked. Released from a straitjacket this week and able to get driver back in his hand, Penge can be expected to flourish.

A missed cut by a shot on his Eichenried debut 12 months ago was a decent effort when you consider he had already missed nine cuts that year and was a DPWT rookie low on confidence. This time he arrives as one of the most dangerous players on the circuit. While others are feeling the pace, Penge's late start to 2025 means he is hungry for competition.

Next best bet

Matti Schmid 30-1

The German galleries at the BMW have not enjoyed a home-grown winner since Martin Kaymer in 2008. Matti Schmid looks capable of giving the crowds what they want.

Schmid was ranked 1,897 in the world and was still an amateur when he finished 14th at Eichenried in 2021, then he was 18th in 2023 and 32nd last year. Since the last BMW, he has posted six top-tens on the PGA Tour, the latest coming with second place at Colonial just a month ago.

Since Colonial, Schmid has missed the cut by a shot on his Memorial debut, missed the cut by a shot in Canada, then withdrew during the Travelers last time out with illness. He has bounced back to fitness, has been practising in Germany for a few days, and can take full advantage of this downgrade to the DPWT.

Matti Schmid could give the Munich crowd reason to cheer on SundayCredit: Getty Images

Other selections

Daniel Hillier 66-1
Gavin Green 110-1

Third place at Eichenried for Daniel Hillier in 2023 came despite him finishing 85th in the putting statistics, highlighting how well suited this great driver is to the layout. The Kiwi was a DPWT maiden that week, which is probably why he faltered over the weekend, but he has since won the British Masters and finished runner-up to Tyrrell Hatton in a Dubai Desert Classic duel at the start of this year.

Hillier, ninth behind Penge in the Hainan Classic, has been producing decent golf on less suitable courses lately, finishing 26th in the KLM and 41st in Italy, and this week gets a track where his driving prowess is of more use.

Complete a four-pronged attack with Gavin Green, who is one of the best maidens on the DPWT. The Malaysian was a superb amateur at the University of New Mexico, a prolific winner on the Asian Development Tour, then won on the Asian Tour in 2017. He has posted five top-threes on the DPWT without success.

Green's time may have come. He followed 34th spot in Austria with 13th in the KLM and 21st in Italy, and this week he gets a more suitable assignment. He finished 12th at Eichenried in 2023 and the 31-year-old can get his name on the leaderboard again.

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Course guide for the BMW International Open

• Course Golfclub Munchen Eichenried, Munich, Germany
• Prize money $2.75m ($458,425 to the winner)
• Length 7,354 yards
• Par 72 - four par-five holes; ten par-fours; four par-threes
• Field 156 The cut Top 65 and ties qualify for round three
• Highest-ranked players in field (world ranking in brackets) Patrick Reed (57), Laurie Canter (70), Matti Schmid (84), Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (87), Shaun Norris (94)
• Course records - 72 holes 261 John Daly (2001) 18 holes 62 David Feherty (1989, 1990), Steen Tinning (1992), Darren Clarke (1992), Greg Turner (1997), Jose Maria Olazabal (2001), Padraig Harrington (2001), Raphael Jacquelin (2003), Simon Dyson (2005), Rafa Echenique (2009), Haotong Li (2022)
• Course winners taking part Martin Kaymer, David Horsey, Pablo Larrazabal, Andrea Pavan, Haotong Li, Ewen Ferguson
• When to bet By 5.40am on Thursday
• When to watch Live on Sky Sports Golf from 11.30am on Thursday
• Time difference Germany is one hour ahead of the UK and Ireland
• Last week – Italian Open 1 A Saddier (60-1), 2 M Couvra (30-1), T3 D Bradbury (80-1), C Hill (90-1), T5 C Sordet (250-1), N Von Dellingshausen (50-1), T7 A Ayora (35-1), E Chacarra (30-1), M Schneider (66-1)
• Course type Parkland
• Course overview Eichenried has hosted this event 28 times, most recently from 1997 to 2011, then 2013, 2015, 2017 and from 2019 onwards. The flat, straightforward layout, with four par-fives reachable in two shots, has staged 11 rounds of 62
• The story of last year Ewen Ferguson reached 18 under par to win by two shots and claim a third DP World Tour title
• Weather forecast Sunny, hot and calm for the most part, with the potential for a short shower on Friday morning
• Type of player suited to the challenge Eichenried is a doddle for professionals – attacking golf and a hot putter are the routes to success
• Key attribute Touch/putting

Steve Palmer's John Deere Classic key stat

The last 11 champions at Eichenried were winless that year until their BMW International success

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