Spanish Open: Steve Palmer's golf tips, best bets and player analysis

Free golf tips, best bets and player analysis for the Spanish Open at Club de Campo, Madrid, on the European Tour.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Golf, 11am Thursday

Best bets

Haotong Li
3pts each-way 18-1 Betfair, Paddy Power
Nacho Elvira
1.5pts each-way 80-1 Betfair, Paddy Power
Alvaro Quiros
1pt each-way 110-1 bet365
Kristoffer Reitan
0.5pt each-way 200-1Coral

Ryder Cup stars Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia hog the spotlight this week in the Spanish Open, where the Madrid hordes will arrive at Club de Campo to cheer on their favourites, and the market is dominated by local heroes.

Rahm, world number five, is the undisputed top dog of Spanish golf these days, but Garcia won the KLM Open last time out and has battled his way back to 33rd in the rankings. Both men obviously warrant respect in a low-grade event in their homeland, but putting, particularly for Garcia, can be a frustrating business, and anyone struggling on the greens at the straightforward Club de Campo will be left behind.

Rafa Cabrera-Bello – another Spaniard guaranteed fervent support –is third in the betting but the Canarian is also often let down by his short game. For what should be a low-scoring week, the top three in the betting can be left alone at skinny odds.

Steve Palmer's top tip

Haotong Li 18-1

A third-round 64 in the Dunhill Links Championship last week signalled a return to form for brilliant Chinese youngster Haotong Li and the two-time European Tour champion can complete his hat-trick in Spain on Sunday.

Li enjoyed an 11-under-par weekend at the Home of Golf, having worked the close-season rust off with 51st place at Wentworth, and the super-talented 24-year-old can approach his Madrid mission full of confidence.

Both of Li's previous victories have come in low-scoring events – he won the China Open at 22 under par and the Dubai Desert Classic at 23 under – and something similar may be needed in perfect conditions at Club de Campo.

Li is one of the best putters in the business – he tops the putts per greens in regulation stats on the European Tour this season – and he will expect to convert plenty of the numerous birdie chances players will be setting up this week.

Li is a cheerful lad, but he is also a seriously good golfer, as underlined by his third-place finish in the 2017 Open. He has finished runner-up twice on the European Tour in the last 11 months, narrowly beaten by Justin Rose in Turkey and Dustin Johnson in Saudi Arabia, and the Spanish Open seems an excellent opportunity for him to lift some overdue silverware.

Next best bet

Nacho Elvira 80-1

Rahm became Spanish Open champion at a different Madrid track last year and his biggest challenge came from compatriot Nacho Elvira, who found water at the 17th hole of the final round to essentially end a ding-dong battle with his illustrious playing partner.

Elvira has been unlucky in his European Tour career, finishing runner-up three times, including twice in March this year. But he has won four times on the Challenge Tour and the Madrid-born six-footer is clearly good enough to get the job done at some stage. One of those Challenge Tour triumphs came in Madrid – by a four-shot margin – and he relishes performing in front of home galleries. It is worth chancing that his sparkling spring form returns in his home city.

Other selections

Alvaro Quiros 110-1

Kristoffer Reitan 200-1

For the first time in more than four years, Alvaro Quiros has made four cuts in a row, and the gifted but erratic Spaniard can build on that foundation by contending in his national Open again.

Quiros has an abysmal record in the Dunhill Links Championship and had never made a cut there prior to last week, but he qualified for the final round this time and finished as the leading Spaniard. He has returned home in high spirits and the last time he competed in Spain he tied for second in the Andalucia Masters at Valderrama. That is one of three top-three finishes he has posted on the European Tour this year and the seven-time European Tour champion must be taken seriously this week. The Atletico Madrid fan won the 2010 Spanish Open.

Complete a four-pronged attack with Kristoffer Reitan, an attacking 21-year-old Norwegian who is worth chancing on an easy course. His compatriot Viktor Hovland has been getting much more attention, but Reitan competed well with Hovland as they came up the ranks, and the less heralded of the pair secured a European Tour card at Q-School.

The Q-School is staged in Spain, where Reitan has performed well, including a couple of top-three finishes in the Mediter Masters on the Nordic Tour. He was 23rd in the Andalucia Masters in June – a hugely respectable effort at Valderrama – and he could take a shine to another Spanish layout over the next four days.

Players to note

Adri Arnaus
The Spanish youngster has great potential and has quickly established himself as one of the strongest ball-strikers on the circuit. Putting is his weakness.

Jorge Campillo
The Hassan Trophy champion was awesome in the spring, but the Spaniard's form has tailed off, with results of 73-MC-MC-33-MC-MC from the Scottish Open onwards.

Andrea Pavan
The Italian form horse, BMW International champion in June, can boast finishes of 25-3-16-12-46-10 from his last six tournaments and will expect to contend.

Paul Dunne
The Irishman was runner-up to Rahm last year and is suited to events where there is a premium on putting, but he has missed eight of his last ten cuts.

Club de Campo course guide

Course Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Prize money €1.5m (€250,000 to the winner)
Length 7,112 yards
Par 71
Field 138
Course records- 72 holes 261 Raphael Jacquelin (2005 Madrid Open) 18 holes 60 Ivo Giner (2005 Madrid Open)

Course winners taking part Raphael Jacquelin

When to bet By 7.40am Thursday

When to watch Live on Sky Sports Golf from 11am Thursday

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

Last week - Dunhill Links Championship 1 V Perez (175-1), 2 M Southgate (175-1), T3 J Lagergren (110-1), P Waring (175-1), T5 T Fleetwood (18-1), T Lewis (100-1), M Jordan (400-1), J Wang (600-1), J Smith (125-1)

Course overview The Javier Arana designed Black Course at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid has hosted 11 European Tour events in the modern era – the Spanish Open in 1990, 1991, 1994, 1995 and 1996, then the Madrid Open from 2001-2005, and the Madrid Masters in 2008, which was won by Charl Schwartzel at 19 under par.

The lowest winning score has been 11 under par and Raphael Jacquelin reached 23 under when winning the 2005 Madrid Open, so the European Tour stars face a relatively easy assignment this week. There are only three par-five holes – the fourth, seventh and 14th – but all are there for the taking with straight hitting.

And three short par fours – the eighth, 15th and 18th – are also great birdie opportunities. The 505-yard par-four first hole is the most challenging, while the third and the 11th are par threes which will not yield many birdies. The tree-lined, undulating track has small greens and some stunning views over the city of Madrid.

The story of last year Jon Rahm won an all-Spanish Sunday duel with Nacho Elvira at Centro Nacional de Golf, Madrid.

Weather forecast Set fair, with sunny, calm conditions for all four days.

Type of player suited to the challenge Club de Campo looks vulnerable, with perfect weather expected, so a hot putter and four low scores are probably going to be needed for success.

Key attribute Touch/putting

Follow us on Twitter

Like us on Facebook