BMW International Open 2024 Tips: Jordan to ‘Air’ his claims in Germany

Hot on the heels of Marcel Siem’s dramatic playoff victory in last week’s Italian Open – on just his fourth start after undergoing surgery due to a hip injury – the DP World Tour closes out its European Swing in the German’s home country this week, with the BMW International Open at Golfclub München Eichenried.

As always, here is our golf tipster Jamie Worsley's BMW International Open Tips, including six selections ranging from 35/1 to 110/1...

TOURNAMENT HISTORY

The BMW International Open debuted on the DPWT in 1989 and has only been absent one year since, in 2020 due to the pandemic.

The event has always taken place in Germany, with Golfclub München Eichenried hosting 27 of the 34 renewals so far. St. Eurach Land-und-Golfclub briefly took up duties from 1994-1996, whilst Golf Club Gut Lärchenhof hosted the event in 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018.

Many stars of the tour have lifted the trophy, including Sandy Lyle (1991), Colin Montgomerie (1999), Lee Westwood (2003), Miguel Angel Jimenez (2004) and Martin Kaymer (2008). Whilst other big names such as John Daly (2001) and Ernie Els (2013) have also won the title.

There is a select group of just four player to have won multiple BMW International Opens. American, Paul Azinger was the first to do so with victories in 1990 & 1992 and he has since been equalled by Thomas Bjorn (2000, 2002), Pablo Larrazabal (2011, 2015) and Henrik Stenson (2006, 2016).

Last five winners:

• 2023 – Winner: Thriston Lawrence (-13); runner-up: Joost Luiten (-12)
• 2022 – Winner: Haotong Li (-22, playoff); runner-up: Thomas Pieters (-22)
• 2021 – Winner: Viktor Hovland (-19); runner-up: Martin Kaymer (-17)
• 2019 – Winner: Andrea Pavan (-15, playoff); runner-up: Matt Fitzpatrick (-15)
• 2018 – Winner: Matt Wallace (-10); runners-up: Martin Kaymer, Mikko Korhonen, Thorbjorn Olesen (-9)

Thriston Lawrence won the most difficult edition of this event at Eichenried since 2007, making up a four-shot deficit entering the final round to get the better of clear overnight leader, Joost Luiten by one shot. The South African will defend his title this week, looking to join that exclusive list of two-time winners.

THE COURSE

Golfclub München Eichenried was designed by respected German architect, Kurt Rossknecht and opened in 1989. It has been tinkered with regularly over the intervening years and underwent a complete renovation of its green complexes in 2018.

It offers up a fun, evenly-balanced challenge, with plenty of scoring opportunities countered by several hazards and more demanding holes. It’s a course that can be got at in benign, soft conditions, as evidenced by Haotong Li’s winning score of -22 in 2022. Though as we saw in last year’s wet and gusty renewal, it doesn’t take all that much to turn it into a challenge. An average winning score of -17.7 over the last ten renewals shows the solid test that awaits.

The course has been lengthened by a little over 60 yards for this year’s renewal, with the par 72 now measuring 7347 yards. It possesses 10x par 4s (319-490 yards), 4x par 5s (546-568 yards) and 4x par 3s (162-227 yards).

Golfclub München Eichenried is flat and tree-lined but relatively spacious. Nothing is overly easy or too difficult here, with the course ranking around average in most aspects statistically.

The mostly doglegging fairways feature an even mix of narrow and generous, and are protected by strategic bunkering. Whilst trees can block out approaches into some of the greens if hitting the tee-shot too far on the wrong side.

The moderately undulating bentgrass greens are relatively large and speedy. Further strong bunkering offers protection and there are several putting surfaces with run-offs, that lead to collection areas and closely examine the players’ short-game skills.

Water is in-play on seven holes, most of which arrive on the back nine and play a part in the exciting risk/reward finish.

The 319-yard par 4 16^th is one of two potentially drivable par 4s (along with the 340-yard 5^th) and possesses a large green that is protected by water short and left.

The course features a tricky set of par 3s, the last of which is the 212-yard 17^th. This smallish, shallow green is again protected be water short and two large bunkers long, that if finding, will leave a treacherous bunker shot back towards the water.

The course closes with the 568-yard par 5 18^th. The hole doglegs sharply from right-to-left and features a fairway that is protected by water left and two strategically placed bunkers to the right. Finding the fairway is only half the problem, with the large green sloping towards water on the right-hand side.

It’s a finish that will ensure drama right until the last shot is holed on Sunday, with those chasing able to pick up birdies/eagles but equally, the potential for disaster if players near the top get a little too aggressive and bring those lurking dangers into play.

THE WEATHER

The course should be pretty receptive this week, with rain predicted to fall before the event, as well as over three of the four tournament days. This will obviously make things tricky for players unlucky enough to be out there when it is falling but those able to avoid it can score well on a soft course, at which there isn’t forecast to be any severe winds this week.

KEY STATS

• SG: Approach
• Greens-in-Regulation

This is a week to favour strong ball-strikers and I’d be especially keen to get quality iron players on side.

Thriston Lawrence ranked 8^th in approach when winning last year and his closest challenger, Joost Luiten, ranked 5^th in approach and 2^nd in greens-in-regulation.

Haotong Li was a strong 10^th in approach when winning in 2022, whilst Thomas Pieters in 2^nd was top-20 in both approach and GIR.

Viktor Hovland was excellent on the greens when winning in 2021, though combined that with a good ball-striking display, which included ranking 8^th in GIR and 19^th in approach. Martin Kaymer in 2^nd ranked 2^nd in approach and 15^th in GIR.

• SG: Off-the-Tee

The driver has too been another important weapon among many winners and challengers, with players able to reap the rewards on the short par 4s and par 5s if successfully taking them on with the club.

Thriston Lawrence was a solid enough 31^st off-the-tee last year but this is the area runner-up, Joost Luiten, excelled most, ranking 4^th. Whilst Daniel Hillier and Adrian Meronk in T3 ranked 6^th and 7^th respectively.

It was a similar story in 2022, as Haotong Li ranked a 17^th OTT, with his nearest challengers, Thomas Pieters and Ryan Fox in 2^nd and 3^rd, ranking 4^th and 7^th with the driver.

Meanwhile, three of the top-4 in 2021 ranked top-25 OTT; winner, Viktor Hovland ranked 13^th.

• SG: Putting (bentgrass)

These greens may well be the trickiest aspect of play at Golfclub München Eichenried and it’s no surprise to see players mastering them to win here.

Thriston Lawrence ranked 10^th last year; Haotong Li ranked 11^th in 2022 with each other member of the top-4 ranking no worse than 10^th; whilst Viktor Hovland led the field on the greens in 2021, with Martin Kaymer and Victor Dubuisson in 2^nd and 4^th respectively, ranking inside the top-10.

• Par 5 Scoring

Finally, the par 5s all look gettable and I feel it’s important to make the most of these scoring opportunities if wanting to keep up with the leading players this week.

CORRELATING EVENTS (COURSES)

Alfred Dunhill Championship (Leopard Creek)

Leopard Creek is another partially flat (on the front nine) and tree-lined parkland course that provides a similar ball-striking test to this week’s host venue. With scoreable par 5s and drivable par 4s, along with striking strategic bunkering aside the average-width fairways, I feel it has many features that should make it a strong comp this week.

Notable correlating form:

Pablo Larrazabal:

BMW International (1^st, 1^st) / Alfred Dunhill (1^st)

Andrea Pavan:

BMW International (1^st) / Alfred Dunhill (7^th)

Richard Bland:

BMW International (2^nd) / Alfred Dunhill (2^nd)

Thomas Detry:

BMW International (2^nd) / Alfred Dunhill (3^rd)

Ross Fisher:

BMW International (2^nd) / Alfred Dunhill (3^rd)

Joost Luiten:

BMW International (2^nd, 3^rd) / Alfred Dunhill (5^th)

Adrian Meronk:

BMW International (3^rd) / Alfred Dunhill (2^nd)

BMW PGA Championship (Wentworth)

Wentworth is another fair, balanced test of golf and ranks closely to Eichenried in most areas statistically. A tree-lined course with doglegging, average-width fairways and an exciting risk/reward finish, it has much in common with this week’s host.

Notable correlating form:

Miguel Angel Jimenez:

BMW International (1^st) / BMW PGA (1^st)

David Howell:

BMW International (1^st) / BMW PGA (1^st)

Pablo Larrazabal:

BMW International (1^st, 1^st) / BMW PGA (7^th)

David Horsey:

BMW International (1^st) / BMW PGA (7^th)

Ross Fisher:

BMW International (2^nd) / BMW PGA (3^rd)

Thomas Detry:

BMW International (2^nd) / BMW PGA (5^th)

Ryan Fox:

BMW International (3^rd) / BMW PGA (1^st)

Rafa Cabrera Bello:

BMW International (3^rd, 3^rd) / BMW PGA (6^th, 8^th, 9^th)

British Masters (The Belfry – Brabazon Course)

As a flat, tree-lined parkland with doglegging fairways, several risk/reward holes and proving a strong statistical match, especially in the short-game areas, The Belfry’s Brabazon Course can act as another useful comp this week.

Notable correlating form:

Lee Westwood:

BMW International (1^st) / British Masters (1^st)

Richard Bland:

BMW International (2^nd) / British Masters (1^st)

Daniel Hillier:

BMW International (3^rd) / British Masters (1^st)

Adrian Meronk:

BMW International (3^rd) / British Masters (3^rd)

Bernd Wiesberger:

BMW International (4^th, 5^th) / British Masters (5^th)

Jorge Campillo:

BMW International (3^rd) / British Masters (7^th)

2021-2022 Irish Open (Mount Juliet)

Previous Irish Open host, Mount Juliet amassed some appealing crossover form with this course from just its two stagings of the event. A tree-lined course with generous, doglegging fairways, large greens and plenty of water in-play, it provided a very similar ball-striking test to Eichenried.

Notable correlating form:

Thriston Lawrence:

BMW International (1^st) / Irish Open (3^rd)

Richard Bland:

BMW International (2^nd) / Irish Open (4^th)

Adrian Meronk:

BMW International (3^rd) / Irish Open (1^st)

Ryan Fox:

BMW International (3^rd) / Irish Open (2^nd)

Jorge Campillo:

BMW International (3^rd) / Irish Open (7^th)

Omega European Masters (Crans-sur-Sierre)

Lastly, whilst the more claustrophobic Crans-sur-Sierre is much quirkier than this week’s setup, there are long-standing form-ties between these two events. The ball-striking stats are pretty similar for both courses and with the bounty of scoring opportunities that often come with prevalent dangers, you can see why players might carry form over.

Notable correlating form:

Thriston Lawrence:

BMW International (1^st) / European Masters (1^st)

Thomas Bjorn:

BMW International (1^st, 1^st) / European Masters (1^st, 1^st)

Miguel Angel Jimenez:

BMW International (1^st) / European Masters (1^st)

Andres Romero:

BMW International (1^st) / European Masters (2^nd)

Matt Fitzpatrick:

BMW International (2^nd) / European Masters (1^st, 1^st)

Richard Bland:

BMW International (2^nd) / European Masters (5^th)

Joost Luiten:

BMW International (2^nd, 3^rd) / European Masters (5^th)

Ross Fisher:

BMW International (2^nd) / European Masters (5^th)

Edoardo Molinari:

BMW International (3^rd) / European Masters (2^nd)

Jorge Campillo:

BMW International (3^rd) / European Masters (4^th)

Bernd Wiesberger:

BMW International (4^th, 5^th) / European Masters (2^nd)

THE FIELD

Ryan Fox makes his first DPWT start since January this week and is the highest-ranked player in the field at #63. Keita Nakajima (#80) and defending champion, Thriston Lawrence (#95) are the only other players from inside the world’s top-100.

Lawrence is one of 11 former winners in attendance, which includes 2022 champion Haotong Li, two-time winner Pablo Larrazabal, LIV’s Martin Kaymer and tour veterans, Thomas Bjorn and Miguel Angel Jimenez.

Speaking of veterans, evergreen 66-year-old Bernhard Langer will make his first DPWT start since 2015; LIV Golf’s Patrick Reed and Thomas Pieters are among the tournament invites; and a strong home contingent (led by last week’s winner, Marcel Siem) is bolstered by Matti Schmid, making just his second start on the tour this year and both Paul twins will also be in attendance, as the Korn Ferry Tour’s Jeremy joins brother Yannik.

BMW International Open Odds

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SELECTIONS

Market leaders: Patrick Reed 16/1, Ryan Fox 18/1, Thomas Pieters 18/1, Bernd Wiesberger 22/1, Keita Nakajima 25/1

We have a stronger field this week but with Patrick Reed once again in as favourite, it still feels a very open contest.

Ryan Fox is back in action on the tour and has a great record here. He may well appreciate the drop back to this level after some decent performances on the PGA Tour of late but with his approach play currently unreliable, he was just short enough in the betting for me to avoid him.

Instead, I’m going to open with a couple of high-flying ball-strikers who have looked close across their recent starts, beginning with England’s Matthew Jordan.

1.5 pts Matthew Jordan each-way (1/5 - 8 places) @ 35/1

It has been five years since this former star amateur started playing on the DP World Tour full time, and there have been signs that he’s finally finding the consistency needed to be the force on tour that many felt he would be.

Jordan has finished 16^th or better in half of his 12 starts this season, recording top-5s when 4^th in the Kenya Open and 5^th in the Soudal Open. The latest of those came four starts ago and was the first of a strong trio of results, as he followed with finishes of 13^th in the European Open and 12^th in the Scandinavian Mixed, before a missed cut in Italy last week.

Statistically, he is playing the best golf of his pro career and whilst the driver continues to be the star, it’s the improvements in his iron play that have caught the eye.

Ranking outside the top-100 in approach in the previous two years, he currently ranks 20^th this and is 14^th in greens-in-regulation. When combined with his ranking of 8^th off-the-tee – in which he’s generally driving it straight and long – he’s hitting the ball better than ever and this has enabled him to collect birdies for fun this year, ranking 4^th on tour in birdie average and 11^th on the par 5s.

Jordan finished 17^th on debut here in 2021 and though missing the cut the following year, he wasn’t playing anywhere near as well as he is currently. He has a raft of strong performances at comp courses - such as a 4^th in the 2021 European Masters and 12^th in the 2021 Irish Open – that suggests the course is indeed a good fit and I’m taking him to show that this week.

1.25 pts Sean Crocker each way (1/5 - 6 places) @ 40/1

Sean Crocker comes to Germany after his best finish of the year in Italy and with the putter starting to fire, he has every chance of claiming a second DPWT win this week.

Crocker began his year well with a 6^th-place finish in the Dubai Invitational but struggled to hit those heights in following starts, recording just one further top-20 when 16^th in the Bahrain Championship.

After missing three of his previous four cuts, he returned to form with a 21^st-place finish in the KLM Open two weeks ago and improved on that by finishing 3^rd in the Italian Open.

He gained strokes in every area there, but it was the maintained gains with the short game that largely engineered the result. As a player who has excelled with his ball-striking since turning pro, as shown by rankings of 17^th in approach and 23^rd off-the-tee this season, he’s going to become a serious danger should he manage to combine this with his newfound sharpness on and around the greens.

Crocker made his debut here in 2017, finishing 78^th and then missed the cut in 2019. However, since then he’s performed well, recording finishes of 29^th, 36^th and a best effort yet of 14^th last year. With a runner-up finish at Leopard Creek, a 4^th-place finish at Crans-sur-Sierre and top-10s at Mount Juliet and Wentworth, he has some notable form that indicates he’s capable of improving again this year.

1 pt Jesper Svensson each-way (1/5 - 6 places) @ 55/1

Jesper Svensson’s impressive early-season form has cooled somewhat following his breakthrough win in the Singapore Classic. Having said that, he’s still managed a couple of top-25s since then and now back out to very tempting prices, he’s worth a shot at what should be a suitable course this week.

Svensson finally got rewards for the consistently encouraging performances early on in his rookie season by taking the Singapore Classic, overcoming a five-shot final-round deficit to eventually take down Kiradech Aphibarnrat in a playoff.

He’s played six times since then, missing three cuts, but recorded top-25s in China and Sweden, and didn’t disgrace himself with a 53^rd-place finish in the PGA Championship. The latest of his missed cuts came last week, though after struggling in difficult conditions in the afternoon in round one, shooting a 5-over 76, he rallied with a 3-under 68 in round two and can hopefully carry that momentum into this week.

The Swede is gaining strokes in every area this season but there’s no doubt that the driver is his biggest weapon. Something he has used to good effect on the par 5s this year, ranking 3^rd in par 5 scoring. Whilst the putter still looks largely strong, he’s appeared a little off with his irons in recent starts but much like the rest of his game, there were improvements in his second round last week.

Svensson hasn’t played here before and has nothing in the way of comp form. Though as a big-hitting ball-striker who is competent on the greens, he has the attributes of many past performers and I have every confidence he can go well on debut this week.

1 pt Jeremy Paul each-way (1/5 - 8 places) @ 70/1

Jeremy Paul, twin brother of Yannik, has been in good form on the Korn Ferry Tour this year, winning on tour for the first time in The Bahamas. In contrast to his sibling, he is very lightly-raced on the DPWT, though he has performed with credit when teeing it up and every bit as talented as his brother (potentially even more so if you take into consideration their amateur careers) he looks a big price this week.

Paul earned his stripes on the PGA Tour Canada at the start of his pro career but has firmly established himself on the Korn Ferry Tour in recent years, showing some real consistency.

He turned that consistency into a second pro win (his first coming on the ProGolf Tour in 2018) in The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at the start of the year, entering the final round in a tie for the lead and firing an impressive 67 for a one-shot victory. He struggled over his next few starts but has been ultra-consistent in his last 10, missing just one cut and recording four top-25s. This all adds up to him ranking 13^th on the money list and puts him in a very strong position to become a PGA Tour player next season.

Due to his lack of starts on the PGA Tour/DPWT, strokes-gained data is a little thin on the ground, though from the basic stats of the Korn Ferry Tour, he looks a strong ball-striker. Ranking 4^th in greens-in-regulation and 36^th in total driving on the tour last season.

Paul made his debut in this event in 2016 when still an amateur and finished a commendable 56^th. Since turning pro, he’s only made one start on the DPWT, finishing 18^th in the 2022 Open de Espana and impressed with driver, ranking 15^th.

That is a very promising solo pro effort at this level and with the consistency of his form on the KFT this year, I fancy him to make further noise in front of a home crowd this week.

1 pt Andy Sullivan each-way (1/5 - 8 places) @ 80/1

Andy Sullivan has had somewhat of a return to form this year after a bleak couple of years and with all areas of his game looking in good shape, he can reproduce a similar standard of performance as his 5^th-place finish here in 2021.

Sullivan showed some promise in South Africa at the end of last year and appeared to be following up on that on his first start of 2024 in the Dubai Desert Classic, firing rounds of 67 and 67 to sit 2^nd at the halfway point. However, a dreadful weekend saw him tumble down the leaderboard into 66^th and he struggled to recover from that over subsequent weeks.

A return to South Africa in the SDC Championship sprung him back into life and saw him gain his first top-5 since August 2022, finishing 4^th. He repeated that effort two starts later in the Singapore Classic and two starts ago in the Scandinavian Mixed, he recorded a third 4^th-place finish of the year.

He did miss the cut last week, though much like Svensson he succumbed to a 3-over 74 in the tougher afternoon conditions on Thursday but bounced back in the second round, shooting 68 to miss the cut by just the one shot.

The short game has been his biggest asset this year, ranking 31^st around-the-greens and 41^st on them. Although, sitting inside the top-60 in both approach and off-the-tee he’s doing every well.

Sullivan’s two best efforts here came in the renewals preceding his slump in form in 2022/23, as he finished 26^th in 2019 and 5^th in 2021. Finishes of 3^rd at Leopard Creek and Wentworth, along with several top-10s at The Belfry, bode well and indicates that he can reproduce that 2021 effort this time around now back in much better form.

0.75 pts Filippo Celli each-way (1/5 - 6 places) @ 110/1

Former #30 amateur, Filippo Celli has been slow to get going in his rookie season on the DPWT but following back-to-back 10^th-place finishes this big talent now looks to have found his feet. Coming back to a place at which he finished 31^st on debut last year, I’m expecting another strong performance this week.

Celli entered the consciousness of fans when taking low amateur honours at the 2022 Open Championship at the Old Course, though he had enjoyed a stellar amateur career prior to that. With a victory in the 2022 European Amateur Championship the undoubted highlight of that period.

He followed that with a top-10 in the ISPS Handa World Invitational around a month later and after winning the Eisenhower Trophy (alternatively known as the World Team Championships) as part of the Italian team later that year – an event in which he finished 4^th individually – he turned pro.

Celli found the going a little tough in the pro ranks at the end of 2022 but discovered some form at the beginning of 2023. However, he ultimately failed to do enough to earn the step up to the DPWT and had to enter Q-School at the end of the year. He grasped that opportunity with both hands, finishing 2^nd in the marathon six-day event and was rewarded with a swift upgrade to the main tour this year.

I say he was a little slow to get going this year but he was reasonably solid, making six of his first nine cuts and recorded a top-25 in Bahrain, but he rarely threatened the top of the leaderboard.

That all changed at the KLM Open two weeks ago, as he opened with a 67 to sit 8^th after round one and never left the top-15 for the rest of the week, before eventually settling for 10^th. This gave him great confidence going into his national open last week and he delivered again, shooting 4/4 rounds under par for another 10^th-place finish.

Celli has hit the ball much better over those last two starts and looking like a player at home on the greens, it’s been no surprise to see him start to impact the top of the leaderboard. He putt these greens well last year and if able to maintain his recently-found level of ball-striking, another top finish could be on the cards at Golfclub München Eichenried.

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