Soudal Open 2026 FRL Tips: Three to fire early in Belgium

With conditions forecast to be pleasant throughout Thursday’s opening round of the Soudal Open, the scramble to be first-round leader should be a competitive one at Rinkven International.

Our resident golf tipster Jamie Worsley is here with three picks he fancies to start fast in his Soudal Open 2026 FRL Betting Tips, which you can check out below...

You can read Jamie's full Soudal Open 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 Soudal Open Odds over on betfred.com

Teeing off at 7.30am, the morning starters will begin in cool (12°C), calm weather. Temperatures will slowly rise to around 20°C by midday and reach highs of 24°C in the afternoon, whilst a gentle 4-7mph breeze won’t cause much inconvenience.

Barring that warmer afternoon weather, there is very little to separate the two waves here and I do think you can pick freely across the tee times, with perhaps a slight lean towards those out late.

Taking that into account, I’ve selected two from the afternoon and one from the morning in this week’s first-round leader market.

1 pt Oliver Lindell each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 45/1

Start time: 2.05pm

Rating as the fifth-strongest first-round performer in attendance, Finland’s Oliver Lindell is my first pick. Stretching all the way back to last year’s Open Championship, he hasn’t missed a cut in an incredible 23 starts and, as one of the best iron players in the field, he can score well in the opening round.

Lindell has finished outside the top 30 just twice in 10 2026 appearances, turning in three top-10s: 9^th at the Qatar Masters, 5^th at the Bahrain Championship, and 10^th at the Catalunya Championship on his latest start.

His quality in approach has played a starring role in this superb run of form, as he ranks 4^th in this field in 2026. He’s also among the top-20 par-4 scorers on the DPWT – handy around a layout that has 13 of them – and, more importantly, he sits 5^th in round one performance.

That has seen him pick up five first-round top-10s, which includes firing a five-under 65 to share the first-round lead at the South African Open. Although many of those quicker starts came earlier in the year, low rounds remain easy to find, such as his seven-under 65 in round three of the Catalunya Championship – the second-best round of that day.

Lindell finished way down the leaderboard at Rinkven back in the 2018 Belgian Knockout as a 19-year-old but is a much different prospect now. He was 25^th on his return last year and, shooting a third-round 65 that would’ve been enough to share the first-round lead, it’s certainly within his wheelhouse to make the early running.

0.75 pts Davis Bryant each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 70/1

Start time: 2.35pm

Despite missing the cut last year, I’m confident Davis Bryant is a natural fit for Rinkven. Some eye-catching comp form backs this up, and with three first-round top-10s in his last four appearances, he can prove it tomorrow.

Bryant has been in decent form on the DPWT this season, claiming four top-20s in 12 starts and missing just three cuts. His best performance came at the Kenya Open, where he finished 2^nd, whilst he arrives in Belgium having finished no worse than 31^st on his last three outings.

He’s gaining strokes right through the bag, whilst rankings of 7^th in driving accuracy and 35^th in par-4 scoring are also important stats for this layout. Slow starts were often his undoing at the beginning of the season but, having opened with a two-under 70 in India, a four-under 67 in China, and a five-under 67 in Spain to sit inside the top 10 on Thursday in each, he looks to have rectified that.

Rounds of 76 and 77 here last year leave a lot to be desired. However, following that with finishes of 4^th at the BMW International Open and 13^th at the British Masters – both events that compare closely to Rinkven – I’m happy to take a chance on him improving significantly this week.

0.75 pts Niklas Norgaard each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 80/1

Start time: 8.50am

Niklas Norgaard’s form has been low on positives in 2026, but I believe we could just be about to see him turn a corner. He should’ve gained some confidence after securing a U.S. Open spot at Walton Heath earlier this week, and as a former runner-up at Rinkven, this is the perfect place for him to build on that.

Norgaard has just the three top-40s in 11 starts this year, recording a best of 29^th at the South African Open. That said, he is still gaining strokes with the putter and driver and has shown major improvement with his irons of late, ranking 1^st in GIR and 13^th in SG: Approach in Turkey three weeks ago.

In addition, his first-round form is another area in which he’s displayed some recent positivity after an uninspiring start to the season. He shot a three-under 69 at the Indian Open at the end of March, which was enough to sit 4^th after 18 holes.

Norgaard missed the cut on his Rinkven debut in 2022, though he bounced back in style in 2024, firing rounds of 64-68-67-68 to finish 2^nd. That seven-under 64 was enough to see him finish day one in 2^nd place and, having shot a 65 and a 68 in his two rounds at Walton Heath on Monday, he looks a player on the up.

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