Italian Open: Steve Palmer's preview, best bets, free golf tips, course guide

Golf tips, best bets and player analysis for the Italian Open at Olgiata Golf Club, Rome, on the European Tour.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Golf, 9am Thursday

Best bets

Matt Wallace
3pts each-way 25-1 Betfair, Boyles, Power
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Shane Lowry
3pts each-way 18-1 Betfair, Power
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Andrea Pavan
1.5pts each-way 33-1Coral, Sky Bet
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Victor Perez
1pt each-way 66-1Betfred
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Adri Arnaus
1pt each-way 50-1general
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Enrico Di Nitto
0.5pt each-way 750-1 Sky Bet
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The Rolex Series events always attract world-class talent and the Italian Open has become one of the premier gatherings on the European Tour schedule since having its status upgraded.

PGA Tour regulars, Paul Casey and Justin Rose, have opted to sample the delights of Olgiata Golf Club in Rome, joining Italian number one Francesco Molinari, who will command most of the spotlight in his home country. BMW PGA Championship victor, Danny Willett, is also in attendance to chase a winner's cheque of more than a million euros.

Steve Palmer's top tip

Matt Wallace 25-1

Italy was a happy hunting ground for Matt Wallace when he was a dominant force on the Alps Tour in 2016 – three of his victories, including the Grand Final, were in the country – and a trip to Rome has come at the perfect time for the Englishman to get back to winning ways.

Wallace was 150th in the world rankings when he made his Italian Open debut in 2017, but he performed superbly, finishing alone in fourth spot. Since that two-shot defeat, he has added three titles – the Indian Open, BMW International and Made In Denmark – to his Portugal Open maiden success. And this week he should go close to landing the most prestigious silverware of his career.

Wallace has been generally excellent over the last year, without quite managing a fifth European Tour triumph. Second place in the DP World Tour Championship was followed by the same position in the Dubai Desert Classic, then third spot in the US PGA Championship. The Londoner proved that his superb Bethpage Black effort was no Major fluke by sharing 12th place in the US Open a month later.

More recently, Wallace has hammered again at the winner's enclosure, with third place in the BMW International and the KLM Open. His KLM effort, which came just over a month ago, was despite an opening-round 75. The subsequent 67, 63, 68 burst was some of the best golf Wallace has ever produced and added an extra layer of confidence.

A closing 65 for 15th place at St Andrews last time out added to the feeling that Wallace will be parading a new trophy soon – he has formed a fresh and strong alliance with ace caddie Jonathan Smart – and he has the tools to tame Olgiata over the next four days.

Next best bet

Shane Lowry 18-1

Olgiata has been likened to Wentworth by some Italian journalists and that will be music to the ears of Shane Lowry, who has a stellar record at Wentworth and should relish the dimensions of an Olgiata track which most of the field are seeing for the first time this week.

Lowry has taken his game to a new level, becoming Open champion in ludicrously impressive fashion, and two European Tour appearances since have provided great encouragement that the most glorious season of his career will end in style.

Slow starts in the BMW PGA and the Dunhill Links Championship denied Lowry a chance to contend, but he finished 11th and 15th, swinging with assurance, and should have further trophies to position alongside the Claret Jug soon enough.

Lowry proved he could handle tough, tree-lined assignments when winning the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone in 2015, and he is full of hunger this week, eager to reclaim top spot in the Race to Dubai, as well as claim more Ryder Cup points.

Other selections

Andrea Pavan 33-1

Victor Perez 66-1

Adri Arnaus 50-1

Enrico Di Nitto 750-1

Francesco Molinari must be respected and has obvious credentials, but there must be a chance that he is upstaged by Andrea Pavan, who is double the price. Pavan has been in red-hot form on the European Tour, winning the BMW International in June, finishing fourth in the Scottish Open, then compiling results of 3-16-12-46-10-12 from his last six events.

Only two players bettered Pavan's closing 65 in Madrid on Sunday and he has brought his A-game to a course he grew up playing and knows intimately. The Olgiata member, born in Rome and still based there, enjoyed much success in his homeland as an amateur, then won the Challenge Tour Grand Final in Italy in 2011, fending off Tommy Fleetwood. Pavan is in the form of his life and seemingly still improving at the age of 30.

Victor Perez, who made his breakthrough in the Dunhill Links last time out, found more than 90 per cent of greens in regulation on his way to St Andrews glory. The Frenchman is a rock-solid tee-to-green operator who should appreciate the stiff long-game test of Olgiata. His maiden Alps Tour campaign in 2016 yielded three top-six finishes in Italy.

Adri Arnaus is not short of inspiration at the moment, with former college teammate Cameron Champ getting back to winning ways on the PGA Tour before Jon Rahm, a childhood friend, won the Spanish Open in spectacular fashion last week. It will surely not be long before Arnaus, fourth in Spain on Sunday and regularly contending in his rookie year, starts filling his own trophy cabinet.

Arnaus won twice in Italy on the Alps Tour in 2017, including the Grand Final, and possesses the ball-striking class to handle Olgiata.
Wallace, Lowry, Pavan, Perez and Arnaus is a strong five-pronged attack, but it may be worth saving a dime or two for an each-way dart on Enrico Di Nitto, a 26-year-old Rome lad who won the Nazionale Open in his home city on the Alps Tour at the end of July.

In Alps Tour combat in Italy, he typically thrives, and he fired a pair of 63s on his way to third spot in the Cervino Open a month ago. This is a huge upgrade, but he is attached to Olgiata and can employ significant local knowledge, and 16th spot in a Challenge Tour event last week was a decent warm-up.

Players to note

Matthew Fitzpatrick
The Sheffield man has finished runner-up four times in the last year, a frustrating winless spell. This course suits – he finished seventh there on the Challenge Tour in 2014 – and he has a solid Italian Open record.

Matthias Schwab
The accurate Austrian should thrive along this tight, tree-lined terrain, but it would take an act of great courage for him to overcome such a quality field for a maiden European Tour title.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout
The South African should appreciate the similarities with Wentworth, where he finished third on his debut last month. The Valderrama champion seems to play tight, tree-lined tracks well.

Erik van Rooyen
The Scandinavian Invitation winner is a strong enough ball-striker to cope with the demands of Olgiata. He finished the Dunhill Links well last time out, having made a horror start.

Joost Luiten
The diminutive Dutchman has been churning out dozens of greens in regulation and that long-game comfort will stand him in good stead at Olgiata.

Edoardo Molinari
The less famous Molinari brother won a Challenge Tour event at Olgiata in 2009 and has shown glimpses of his best form over the last four months.

Olgiata course guide

Course West Course, Olgiata Golf Club, Rome, Italy
Prize money €6.4m (€1.056m to the winner)
Length 7,523 yards
Par 71 Field 138
Course records- 72 holes 265 Andreas Harto (2010)
18 holes 61 Ian Poulter (2002), Angel Cabrera (2002)

Course winners taking part Ian Poulter, Edoardo Molinari,
Ricardo Gouveia

When to bet By 6.30am Thursday

When to watch Live on Sky Sports from 9am Thursday

Time difference Italy is one hour ahead of the UK and Ireland

Last week - Spanish Open 1 J Rahm (3-1), 2 R Cabrera-Bello (11-1), 3 S Del Val (300-1), T4 A Arnaus (30-1), J Hansen (125-1), J Winther (80-1)

Course overview Olgiata is located 15 miles north of Rome. It hosted the 2002 Italian Open, which was won by Ian Poulter at 19 under par after a weather-shortened 54-hole event. The Challenge Tour staged an event at Olgiata under various different titles – most recently the EMC Challenge Open – in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014 and 2015. A €1m renovation of the course took place in 2010, supervised by Tom Fazio, where 15 holes were modified or totally redesigned. The track features undulating, tree-lined fairways, and is no pushover, with three long par-threes, four par-fours of more than 480 yards apiece, and a 623-yard par-five, one of only three par-fives on the layout. The last Challenge Tour event held at Olgiata was won with a five-under-par total. The venue has been compared by many to Wentworth's West Course

Story of last year Thorbjorn Olesen sunk a ten-foot birdie putt on the final hole to pip home favourite Francesco Molinari by a shot at Gardagolf Country Club

Weather forecast Sunny and pleasant for all four days, with hardly any breeze

Type of player suited to the challenge Olgiata is a stiff tee-to-green test, demanding both length and accuracy, so strong ball-strikers should dominate

Key attribute Accuracy

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