Steve Palmer's Betfred British Masters predictions and free golf betting tips

Golf tips, best bets and player analysis for the Betfred British Masters at The Belfry on the European Tour.

Where to watch

Live on Sky Sports Main Event & Golf from 1.30pm on Wednesday

Best bets

Rasmus Hojgaard
3pts each-way 25-1 Betfred
Sam Horsfield
3pts each-way 20-1 Betfred
Richard Mansell
1pt each-way 100-1 Betfred
Niall Kearney
0.5pt each-way 125-1 Betfred

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Robert MacIntyre has been chalked up as clear favourite for the Betfred British Masters - the Scot getting plenty of attention for his 12th-place finish at Augusta last month - but the left-hander is easy to overlook at the odds.

Scottish golf fans are desperate for somebody to follow in the footsteps of Colin Montgomerie and represent their country with distinction on the world stage, but the MacIntyre hype significantly outweighs his achievements to date. The 24-year-old is yet to win a conventional 72-hole strokeplay event on any of the main tours. He could win this week - and should have a successful career - but value-hunters should probably be looking deeper in the Belfry market. The event starts on Wednesday morning.

Steve Palmer's top tip

Rasmus Hojgaard 25-1

Magnificent 20-year-old Dane Rasmus Hojgaard can cement himself as the modern King of The Belfry by winning this week's Betfred British Masters.

Hojgaard improved his score in every round on his way to UK Championship glory at The Belfry last summer, closing with a 65 before beating Justin Walters in a playoff, and a third European Tour title could be coming for this class act on Sunday.

Juicy odds are on offer because of two narrow failures in elite company on the PGA Tour in his latest outings. Making the cut in the Zurich Classic is never easy - only 33 of the 80 teams progress to the weekend - and Vaughn Taylor (outside the world's top 200 at the time) was far from an ideal partner for Hojgaard's tournament debut.
Hojgaard and Taylor missed the cut by a shot. On 12 of the 18 holes in the first-round fourballs, it was Hojgaard's ball which counted towards the team's score, so the youngster settled much more quickly than the veteran.

A week later, in the Valspar Championship, a solid second-round 69 left Hojgaard one shot shy of the cut-line, but that was another respectable course debut on the PGA Tour. The enormous downgrade to the British Masters should see this great talent back on the leaderboard.

Prior to his American adventure, Hojgaard played beautifully over the weekend of the Austrian Open to finish 12th, and he will expect to strongly contend at a course he fell in love with less than nine months ago.

Next best bet

Sam Horsfield 20-1

Hojgaard may have most to fear from Sam Horsfield - another youngster who finds the European Tour a doddle. Horsfield, like Hojgaard, has quickly rattled off a brace of victories - his breakthrough coming at the Forest of Arden in the Hero Open. The ever improving powerhouse must have every chance of further success 20 minutes up the road from the Forest of Arden this week.

Horsfield returned from a back injury in the Kenya Open at the end of March and instantly proved fitness and form by finishing tied for eighth place. The following week he was third in the Kenya Savannah Classic, then recovered from a slow start in the Austrian Open with 15th place there. As a Florida-based star with recent back problems, the icy temperatures in Austria over the first two days were unhelpful, but he closed with a 69 and a 67 over the warmer weekend, then finished fourth in the Gran Canaria Lopesan Open the following week.

Like Hojgaard, Horsfield missed the cut on the mark in the Valspar Championship, but he can make merry on his return to the European Tour.

Other selections

Richard Mansell 100-1

Niall Kearney 125-1

Cannock-based 26-year-old Richard Mansell played beautifully for three rounds of the Canary Islands Championship last week, showing off his driving distance and churning out greens in regulation. From the final group on Sunday, he dropped to 12th place, but he could set up another winning chance this week at a course which suits, close to home.

The Belfry is a ball-strikers' track and Mansell should relish the layout playing soft and long, with hardly any breeze. He has won on the Euro Pro Tour, has proved himself on the Challenge Tour, was runner-up in the Euram Bank Open last summer, and has shown enough in his last four tournaments to suggest he can contend at a healthy price this week.

Niall Kearney can also build on some Canaries brilliance. The 33-year-old Irishman carded a 61 on Sunday which included a bogey - a sensational round that rocketed him up to a share of fourth place. He also sparkled in Gran Canaria last month with a third-round 64 on his way to 21st spot.

Kearney, twice a winner of the Irish PGA Championship, is stalking the top 500 of the world rankings for the first time in his career and will be thrilled that The Belfry is next on his agenda. He finished fifth in the EuroPro Tour event staged there in 2014.

Tournament sponsors Betfred are offering ten each-way places this week.

Players to note

Eddie Pepperell
The Oxford man, 2018 British Masters champion, improved in each event of the Canary Islands Swing (MC-33-12) and could be dangerous this week. A rib problem blighted him in the UK Championship last year.

Bernd Wiesberger
The Austrian has not competed since finishing 40th in the Masters, but he was fifth at The Belfry in the UK Championship last year and has a good record on the British Isles.

Thorbjorn Olesen
The Dane showed flashes of brilliance in the Canaries and can be fancied to improve on the 17th place he managed at The Belfry last year.

Jack Senior
The Morecambe man led the 2014 EuroPro Tour event at The Belfry going into the final round, before finishing runner-up. He was bright in the Canaries and could go well at a price.

Andy Sullivan
The Midlander feels comfortable at The Belfry and finished ninth in the UK Championship last year, so should be able to put patchy recent form behind him.

Thomas Detry
Cornwall has become a home from home for the Belgian and his Challenge Tour victory came in Oxfordshire. This seems another decent opportunity for a European Tour breakthrough.

The Belfry course guide

Course Brabazon Course, The Belfry, Sutton Coldfield, England
Prize money £1.85m (£308,395 to the winner)
Length 7,232 yards
Par 72
Field 156
Course records- 72 holes 273 Lee Westwood (2007 British Masters) 18 holes 63 Martin Erlandsson (2007 British Masters)

Course winners taking part Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, Rasmus Hojgaard

When to bet By 7.30am on Wednesday

When to watch Live on Sky Sports Main Event & Golf from 1.30pm on Wednesday

Last week - Canary Islands Championship 1 G Higgo (12-1), 2 M Antcliff (80-1), 3 T Pulkkanen (300-1), T4 A Arnaus (25-1), D Burmester (18-1), N Hojgaard (70-1), A Johnston (60-1), N Kearney (200-1)

Course type Parkland

Course overview The Brabazon Course at The Belfry is one of the most famous in Britain. Designed by Dave Thomas and Peter Alliss on a flat piece of farmland, it hosted the Ryder Cup in 1985, 1989, 1993, 2002. Several European Tour events have been staged at The Belfry, most recently the Benson & Hedges International Open from 2000-2003, the British Masters from 2006-2008, and the UK Championship last year, which was won by Rasmus Hojgaard with a 14-under-par total. There is more water on the Brabazon than just about any inland course in the British Isles, so scoring can be volatile, and the front nine particularly demands accuracy. The back nine is more open, although heavily bunkered. There are three par-fives and three par-threes. The 311-yard par-four tenth is driveable, made famous by the heroics of Seve Ballesteros in the Ryder Cup. The 473-yard par-four 18th is hugely demanding, with a tee-shot over water followed by a long approach over a lake to a three-tiered green

Weather forecast Clear and cloudy for the most part, with gentle breezes throughout and temperatures around 13C

Type of player suited to the challenge Some pre-tournament showers have softened The Belfry and with hardly any breeze forecast, powerhouses carrying a hot putter should be able to do plenty of damage, particularly on the three reachable par-fives and driveable par-four tenth

Key attribute Power

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