Hometown favourites Victor Perez and Frederic Lacroix are among the best bets for the upcoming French Open according to Racing Post’s golf tipster, Steve Palmer.
Palmer joined Dave Clark on the Sweet Spot to preview the tournament that gets underway tomorrow (10 October) at Le Golf National, the hosting venue for golf at this summer’s Paris Olympics and the 2018 Ryder Cup.
Perez, who is 22/1 to take home the trophy this week, finished just outside the medals in fourth place at the Olympics and Palmer spoke about what it would mean for him to find glory in his home country.
He said: “He didn’t play in the Dunhill Links last week, he obviously wanted to keep himself fresh for the French Open. It would mean so much to him to win his national titles.
“We’ve seen flashes of brilliance from Perez and he’s a three-time DP World Tour champion. It’s going to be a joyous occasion if Viktor Perez wins this and I want a part of that joy. I think he’s sensing his chance of winning this, having excelled in the Olympics there.”
Fellow Frenchman Lacroix (50/1) will be even more familiar with this week’s course given he was born and raised in Paris. The 29-year-old picked up his first win on tour this year at the Denmark Golf Championship in August and, according to Palmer, is a “brilliant ball striker”.
This trait will be an essential skill at Le Golf National which is known as a notoriously tough course due to its punishing rough and plentiful water hazards.
Outside of the French duo, Palmer’s first pick on the show was Yannik Paul (40/1) who appears to be “rediscovering his A-game”.
The German has recorded 18th, 24th and 19th place finishes in his last three starts on tour and has also had strong showings in the French Open, placing eighth on debut in 2022 before finishing sixth last year.
“I think Yannik Paul is peaking for the French Open,” explained Palmer.
“Typically he has magnificent iron play and he even putted well last week. Putting is usually a weakness but he was on sensational form on the greens last week, particularly on Sunday when he finished off with a 25-foot birdie putt. I’m fully behind the German and I think we’re going to get a second DP World Tour title at the age of 30.”
American Billy Horschel and Denmark’s Rasmus Hojgaard are favourites for the tournament at 12/1 and 14/1 respectively, however, neither of these tempted Palmer.
Out of the two Palmer preferred Horschel, winner of the recent BMW PGA Championship, however, he believes that at 12/1 the odds are too short and don’t offer value to punters.
