Catalunya Championship 2026 FRL Tips: Three to score early in Barca

The Catalunya Championship kicks off at Real Club de Golf El Prat tomorrow, and with wet and windy afternoon conditions on the way, the early starters should hold the advantage on day one.

Our resident golf tipster Jamie Worsley is here with three picks he fancies to take advantage in his Catalunya Championship 2026 FRL Betting Tips, which you can check out below...

You can read Jamie's full Catalunya Championship Preview here..

Sports Welcome Offer

New customers only. Deposit via Debit Card & place first bet £10+ (1/1+) on Sports in 7 days. £30 Sports & £20 Acca Free Bets within 10 hrs of settlement. 7-day expiry. Eligibility, payment excl. & T&Cs Apply.

Sports Welcome Offer

New customers only. Deposit via Debit Card & place first bet £10+ (1/1+) on Sports in 7 days. £30 Sports & £20 Acca Free Bets within 10 hrs of settlement. 7-day expiry. Eligibility, payment excl. & T&Cs Apply.

*You can bet on the tournament and check out the latest Catalunya Championship Odds over on betfred.com

When play begins at 7.40am, the morning wave will be welcomed by cool, bright and calm conditions, with wind blowing at a gentle 4-5mph. Although there is a brief spell of light rain scheduled at around 10.00am, with the breeze rising to 7-8mph, it still promises to be a largely comfortable, playable morning.

Just as the later starters tee off at 12.40pm, wind speeds are forecast to pick up, reaching consistent highs of 12mph throughout the afternoon, with gusts approaching 22mph. Intermittent showers are also predicted to arrive between 1.00pm and 3.00pm, adding another layer of difficulty to proceedings.

This should favour the morning wave, and I’ve picked out three homegrown players to get off to a fast start in Barcelona.

1 pt Alejandro Del Rey each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 50/1

Start time: 8.00am

Alejandro Del Rey has done much of his best work in 2026 during the first round, and I’m counting on that trend continuing this week. He finished 2^nd at El Prat as an amateur and, currently playing his best golf of the campaign, I expect him to be quick out of the blocks.

Del Rey has only missed one cut across his nine appearances this year, claiming standout results of 8^th at the China Open and 14^th at the South African Open. He’s among the top drivers in the field, ranking 12^th, and he has made gains on the greens, sitting 19^th in SG: Putting.

More encouraging than those statistics is just how strong he’s been in the opening rounds. He’s claimed the lead on day one in three of his last seven appearances, firing a seven-under 65 in Bahrain, a five-under 65 at the South African Open, and an incredible 10-under 61 in China. Meanwhile, a five-under 67 in Turkey last week saw him sit 2^nd after 18 holes.

This represents a sparkling book of day one results, and having finished 2^nd here at the 2016 Campeonato de Barcelona, Del Rey is a standout candidate to find another low one on Thursday.

0.75 pts Quim Vidal each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 100/1

Start time: 9.20am

I’ve put Quim Vidal up in this market a couple of times, and he’s gone well without quite making it into the money. As a former member, he has inside knowledge of this course and is well worth sticking with from his morning tee time.

Vidal’s rookie season took time to get going, but with four made cuts on the spin, which includes two top-20s, he’s beginning to find consistency. The first of those efforts came in India, where he finished 13^th, and he followed that with a 19^th in China on his next appearance, hitting his irons with quality in each event.

A 65^th-place finish last week was a step back, though he did begin positively with a two-under 70. This was his third first-round top-25 in a row, as he shot a four-under 67 to sit 10^th at the China Open, whilst a two-under 70 was enough to end round one in 8^th place in India.

He was a constantly hot starter on the HotelPlanner Tour in the previous two seasons, recording first-round leads at the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge and Swiss Challenge in 2024, and the Kolkata Challenge, Delhi Challenge, and Challenge de Cadiz in 2025.

With that impressive history, Vidal can lean on his vast experience of El Prat – where he finished 3^rd at the Campeonato de Catalunya in 2020 – to hit the front tomorrow.

0.75 pts Ivan Cantero each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 110/1

Start time: 9.10am

Tasting success at this venue all the way back in 2016, Ivan Cantero is the final selection of my all-Spanish trio. Despite struggling for form this year, he’s had some decent starts in recent weeks, and with his irons looking strong in Turkey, he could be dangerous on Thursday.

Cantero has missed half of his 10 cuts in 2026 and produced just the one top-40 finish when 34^th at the Hainan Classic. He has driven it well, ranking 35^th, but has failed to find form in other areas. However, he hit his irons better over the first two rounds at National Golf Club and can hopefully build on that here.

His missed cut last week was all the more disappointing as he actually started strongly, opening with a three-under 69 to sit 10^th after 18 holes. He also began with a promising, under-par round at the Indian Open in March.

Looking back at that 2016 Campeonato de Barcelona where Alejandro Del Rey finished 2^nd, the man in front of him – by a massive eight shots, no less – was Cantero. Ten years on, he’s in the favourable part of the draw to make that familiarity count tomorrow.

You can access all our latest Golf Odds over on betfred.com

Find all Jamie's latest Golf Betting Tips over on our dedicated golf Insights hub