Get ready for our Trophee Hassan II betting tips. We are now into the thick of what has already been a fascinating golf season; there’s plenty more to come as tournaments of note hit us thick and fast on the approach to summer. We have some big events to look forward to in the UK and Ireland, including Majors and fans are delighted to see Tiger Woods back in the frame.
It has been a while since followers have had things so good and the American’s return to the top of the game has blown the betting wide-open. There’s now value to be found in the outright betting markets; or punters can wait to get a feel for how things are going, taking into account weather and course challenges, before risking their cash with an in-play wager.
This week our team of golf betting tipsters focus on the Trophee Hassan II which takes place at The Red Course, Royal Golf Dar Es Salem in Rabat Morocco. Play gets underway on Thursday morning with a 11.30am GMT start time. We can keep pace with the action thanks to the live coverage offered by Sky Sports, with all four days of play covered.
Major bookmakers, back in love with golf following Tiger’s heroics, have put in the work to ensure we have plenty to choose from when sizing up a bet on the action. Have your say on the outright winner of the tournament, or bet on first round leader; top-five finish; a top-10 finish; top American player; the top European; to make the cut; winning margin and plenty more besides.
Luiten Leads the Way
The current outright betting has Joost Luiten as favourite to come out on top, but the market is far from convincing with traders offering competitive odds and challenging punters to have their say on who will hand in a winning card at the conclusion of Sunday’s round. The favourite is 16/1 at Bet365 and that’s where you should bet if you fancy Luiten to do the business as there’s no lack of 14/1 about with the competition.
His main rival is expected to be Jorge Campillo who can be backed at a market best price of 25/1 with William Hill. Again, it’s worth checking your bets and following our advice as many major bookies are giving only 18/1 on the same result and that’s a mistake we can’t afford to make. Others prominent in the early betting are Jordan Smith 25/1 (Bet365), Fabrizio Zanotti 25/1 (bet365), Nacho Elvira 25/1 (Bet365), Alexander Levy 25/1 (Bet365) and Erik Van Rooyen 28/1 (Bet365).
Levy arrives for this year’s renewal as defending champion, having won with a score of -8 last year, following on from the success of Edoardo Molinari on nine-under the year before, that result achieved following a play-off. Jeunghun Wang needed a play-off to bank the prize money in 2016, there was no catching Richie Ramsay’s -10 in 2015 and Alejandro Canizares posted a -19 in 2014 to finish top of the tree.
Players Know What to Expect
This will be the fourth year in-a-row this competition has been staged at the Red Course, so both players and punters will know what to expect and there’s enough to go on if choosing to work through the trends. It’s a course that offers contenders larger than standard greens which were updated recently, so we should see the best of them. That will help keep the scores low and we expect accurate players to attract more attention than those boasting distance off the tee.
With that in mind, many appeal in the current line-up but we’re going to have our stake money rest on Nacho Elvira who is one of the 25/1 shots at Bet365. The 32-year-old Spaniard came agonisingly close to winning this prize in 2016 when losing a tense play-off but he’s a better player now than he was then, and we are happy to give the runner-up another chance at getting across the line.
The selection brings the kind of form that puts a smile on our face and although this is undoubtedly a step up in class from most of the titles he has won in the past, for our stake money we’ll be getting a man oozing confidence and one determined to prove he belongs at this level of golf. He can send out a real message of intent to the sport and wider audience by getting his hands on the trophy.
No European Tour Win a Worry for Some
The only downside to risking your cash on Elvira is he is yet to win on the European Tour and this is no easy task for the best of players, so a few may be put off, preferring to wait until he has won something of note before going in with their hard-earned cash. This is the gambling game, however, and we’ve seen enough in his form to tell us a win is fast-approaching.
Nacho has been knocking on the door of late and as well as losing a play-off in this competition a few years ago, he has also been seen asking all the right questions of rivals in other fixtures of note in more recent times. His price makes him easy to follow at interest stakes and those seeking the safety net of an each-way bet will find 1/4 the odds a place 1-2-3-4-5 at Bet365, with some firms giving 1/5 the odds the best eight finishers.
There are other ways to back Nacho if you’re stuck on him not bringing a previous tour win. A top-10 finish has been chalked up at 11/4 by traders at Bet365, with a top-20 no more than 7/4, which should catch the eye of accumulator backers as he’s good enough to finish high on the list. Our pick to come home as the top performing European player is another alternative, with a market best price of 14/1 trading at bet365 in a market headed by Joost Luiten at 8/1 and Jorge Campillo at 11/1.