Open de France 2025 FRL Tips: Local star to fire on Thursday

Ahead of next week's Ryder Cup, the Open de France begins on Thursday and Jamie Worsley has picked out four names he likes the look of ahead of the first round.

Here are his Open de France 2025 FRL Tips, including a local hero....

You can read Jamie's full Open de France Betting Tips main preview here. 

The opening round of the Open de France at Golf de Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche should provide ideal scoring conditions on Thursday, with a fine and calm forecast offering no real advantage to any part of the draw.

Sunshine and little wind is expected throughout the day, and although it will be a touch cool for the earliest starters, temperatures are set to climb steadily, reaching around 20 degrees Celsius by midday.

With that in mind, selections for the first-round lead can be made from across the tee times, though there is a slight preference for those heading out after 09:00, when the early chill has begun to lift.

1 pt Adrien Saddier each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 40/1

Start time: 13:35

I’m going to begin with France’s Adrien Saddier – a player currently operating at the very top of his game. He arrives after an excellent runner-up finish at Wentworth, where his low-scoring ability was again on show. If he continues to thrive with his irons he can excite the home crowd tomorrow afternoon.

After a positive start to the season, Saddier finally earned his breakthrough victory on the DP World Tour in the Italian Open. He’s retained form since then, leading after 36 holes of the European Masters three starts ago and he has held the 54-hole lead on his last two starts, resulting in eventual finishes of 5^th in the Irish Open and 2^nd in the BMW PGA Championship.

The Frenchman is gaining strokes right through the bag in 2025 and whilst he’s excelled with the short game overall, his approach play has come to the fore in recent starts. He ranks 3^rd in this field in SG: Total over the last three months and is among the top birdie-makers on tour, ranking 6^th this season.

Saddier is also one of the strongest first-round performers around, ranking 6^th since the end of June. He shot a 62 at Crans to hold the first-round lead in the European Masters, and a 67 at the K Club was enough to sit 4^th after round one of the Irish Open.

Open de France Odds 

1 pt Angel Ayora each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 40/1

Start time: 13:55

Exciting youngster Angel Ayora continues to impress with his superb ball-striking. He’s typically a fast starter and if he can get the putts to drop, he looks sure to feature at the top of the leaderboard on day one.

Ayora has been in terrific form of late, finishing 13^th in the British Masters, 8^th in the European Masters and 5^th in the Irish Open prior to making his Wentworth debut last week. He didn’t manage to get involved there, finishing 54^th, but the long game remained a strength and I’m happy to stick with him here.

There’s nobody in this field driving the ball better than the Spaniard at present and he also ranks 5^th from tee-to-green over the last three months. His performances on similarly short courses are littered with low rounds, including shooting a 64 and two 66s at Crans, and a 65 and a 66 at the Italian Open in June.

Perhaps the standout round from Ayora in relation to this market came in the Soudal Open, where he opened with a six-under 65 to share the first-round lead. That is part of a wider book of first-round form that sees him rank 3^rd in this field across the last three months, sitting inside the top 25 after round one on seven occasions in his last 11 starts.

0.75 pts Ben Schmidt each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 90/1

Start time: 09:40

England’s Ben Schmidt has shown plenty of promise in his rookie season, and there has been a lot to like about his recent performances in particular. He’s a sound iron player who has found his feet on the greens, and with some of his best results this season coming on comp courses, he should enjoy what he finds in France.

This former No. 6 amateur made an encouraging start to this year, finishing 5^th in the Qatar Masters on his second start. He continued to play solidly thereafter, recording top-25s in the Soudal Open, Hainan Classic and Nexo Championship, but he blew those performances out of the water in Denmark five starts ago, finishing 3^rd.

He excels with the driver, ranking 33^rd for the season, and he is also gaining strokes in approach. Although struggling on the greens for much of the year, he ranks 17^th with the putter over the last six weeks and he’s been much better in round one of late, ranking 26^th in first-round performance over the same period.

Schmidt’s third-round 64 in Denmark was the joint-lowest round of the week there and with that venue sharing many similarities with Golf de Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche, I’m confident he can find another low one tomorrow.

0.75 pts Connor Syme each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 100/1

Start time: 09:10

Connor Syme had been wildly out of form after winning the KLM Open back in June, missing four of his next five cuts. However, there were signs in Ireland that he was getting his act together and he carried that progress into last week, finishing 31^st at Wentworth. As somewhat of a short-course specialist, this looks like the perfect time to strike with the Scotsman.

Syme’s victory in the Netherlands ended a seven-year wait for his breakthrough on the DP World Tour. Whilst more exposed than this week’s host, the venue for that event, The International, is another diminutive par 71. He started brightly there, firing a six-under 65 to sit 2^nd after round one and his 66 in round three was the lowest round of that day.

As mentioned, he initially struggled following that success, but he only missed the cut by one in the Irish Open two starts ago, appearing to find something in approach. He built on that at Wentworth, shooting three rounds in the 60s to finish 31^st, and he again impressed with his irons, ranking 20^th in greens-in-regulation and 21^st in approach.

Syme’s career-best efforts are littered with impressive performances on short, strategic, tree-lined courses, including finishes of 2^nd and 4^th at Galgorm Castle and 3^rd at Crans. He’s also among the most consistent first-round performers in this field historically and with his game starting to turn around, I expect him to start fast on Thursday.

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