British Masters 2024 FRL Tips: Five to go low on Thursday

The Betfred British Masters begins at the Belfry on Thursday and as well as his British Masters outright preview, here Jamie Worsley takes a look at who can go low in round one.

Here are his Betfred British Masters FRL Tips...

The Betfred British Masters begins tomorrow at The Belfry, and whilst the conditions look fairly comfortable for most of the field, history tells us that one side of the draw has the advantage to make a speedy start.

The morning conditions are forecast to be cool but benign in terms of wind, and though it warms up in the afternoon, the breeze should stiffen, but not to levels that would make things too difficult. Having said that, most recent events at The Belfry indicate we should favour the early starters.

Across the four events staged here in recent years – the British Masters since 2021 and the 2020 UK Championship – we have had 11 players sit 2^nd or better after round one. Of those 11 players, 10 have had a morning tee time and have all teed off before 9am, with Ryan Fox in 2022 the only exception.

The reason for that could well be the greens, which feature a substantial amount of poa annua. As we know, this grass grows unevenly and can result in the putting surfaces getting bumpier and more difficult to putt later in the day. Therefore, I’m going to focus my attention solely on the morning starters for this week’s first-round leader market.

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0.75 pt Sami Valimaki ew (1/4 5 places) @ 60/1

Start time: 08:20

There’s some appealing value knocking around in the market this week and I begin with Finland’s Sami Valimaki. He looked good on his DP World Tour return two weeks ago in the Czech Masters, and possessing some solid finishes here, he can take advantage of his early tee time to start well.

Outside of a 2^nd-place finish in the Mexico Open and 12^th in the John Deere Classic, Valimaki has found the going a little tough in his PGA Tour rookie season. Though as he showed in Czechia, he’s a real player at this level.

He has had some positive starts in recent events. The Finn opened with a 4-under 67 in the Olympics two starts ago to sit 6^th after the opening round and that 12^th-place finish in the John Deere Classic was engineered by a superb 61 in round one, which was enough to see him into 2^nd place at 10-under-par after 18 holes.

Valimaki has played the Brabazon Course three times, finishing 21^st on debut in 2021 and followed a missed cut in 2022 with a 34^th-place finish last year. He’s shot a couple of 68s across that time and with some of his recent positive starts, he can improve on that to reach the top on day one.

0.75 pt Rikuya Hoshino ew (1/4 5 places) @ 66/1

Start time: 07:50

Rikuya Hoshino finally got the hang of this course in the final round last year and as one of the top-25 round one performers in this field, he can pick up where he left off last year.

Hoshino made his DP World Tour breakthrough in the Qatar Masters earlier in the year and has had some noteworthy performances since, finishing 10^th in the KLM Open and he was 6^th in the BMW International Open on his third-last start.

He ranks 24^th in this field in first-round performances this season, most recently shooting a 6-under 65 to finish in 3^rd place at the end of round one in the KLM Open.

Hoshino failed to break par in his first three trips around the Brabazon Course last year, but appeared to find something in the final round, finishing with a 4-under 68 to finish 49^th. That experience should serve him well on a course that will feel very familiar to many he’s played back at home.

0.75 pts Richie Ramsay ew (1/4 5 places) @ 70/1

Start time: 08:10

Richie Ramsay impressed when 3^rd in the Czech Masters on his latest start. That was a result orchestrated by a strong beginning and no stranger to performing well at The Belfry, he can carry the momentum into this week.

Ramsay’s year had offered little to shout about prior to two weeks ago, as he recorded just three top-25s and a best of 17^th in his first 16 starts. He improved massively in Prague and played his best golf in the opening round, shooting a 7-under 65 to finish the day in 2^nd place.

Ramsay has made the cut in each of his four previous visits to The Belfry, recording a best of 3^rd in 2022. He began that week with a 5-under 67 to sit just one shot off the lead in 3^rd and if able to channel the same quick-starting ability that he showed in his last start, he could go two better this time around.

0.5 pts Mikko Korhonen ew (1/4 5 places) @ 90/1

Start time: 08:30

After a lengthy spell on the sidelines, Mikko Korhonen has shown plenty of encouragement since returning to DPWT action in May. Possessing a superb record here, he looks a decent price to find a low one tomorrow morning.

Korhonen missed the cut on his tour return in the Soudal Open but followed that by making the weekend on his next four starts, which included a 10^th-place finish in the KLM Open. He’s looked very strong in approach across those efforts, an area that will be a real asset this week.

He started reasonably well in these events, especially in the KLM Open, as a 7-under 65 guided him to a share of 1^st place alongside Matteo Manassero in the first round.

Korhonen has played here twice, finishing 3^rd in 2021 and 8^th in 2022. He’s shot seven out of those eight rounds under par and with his game clearly in a good place since his return, I see no reason why he can’t threaten the top of the leaderboard on Thursday.

0.5 pts Maximilian Kieffer ew (1/4 5 places) @ 125/1

Start time: 08:00

Max Kieffer’s recent results don’t read overly well, but his first-round performances have been a different matter. He looks worth a shot at a big price to continue that trend this week.

Kieffer showed promise at the start of the year, finishing 4^th in the Ras Al Khaimah Championship, though his starts since then have been littered with more letters than numbers. He did provide us with some encouragement when finishing 21^st in the Scottish Open three starts ago and followed with a 44^th-place finish in the Barracuda Championship on the PGA Tour on his next start, before missing the cut in the Czech Masters two weeks ago.

The German’s missed cut there came as a huge surprise, as he’d appeared in superb shape in the first round, shooting a 7-under 65 to move into 2^nd place at the end of the day. That was his third first-round top-20 in a row, which included another fantastic opening effort in the Scottish Open, with a 6-under 64 seeing him into 3^rd spot.

Kieffer missed the cut on his debut at The Belfry in 2022, though improved massively last year, sitting in 7^th place and just one shot off the lead entering the final round, before a dreadful 8-over 80 dropped him down 50 spots on the leaderboard in round four. Still, those opening three rounds offered major promise and with the way he’s been starting lately, he was a lively outsider for a strong start tomorrow.

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