Bahrain Championship 2026 First-Round Leader Tips: Dave Tindall's three to back up to 110/1

• 45/146.00 Antoine Rozner is suited to this test and was 10th two weeks ago

• 110/1111.00 Scott Jamieson has course form and relevant FRL form

• 66/167.00 Brandon Robinson-Thompson shot an opening 61 here in 2025

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Weather forecast for Thursday

The sun is out at the Royal Bahrain Golf Club but it's hardly what you'd describe as hot weather with temperatures only in the mid-to-high 60s.

In terms of wind, it'll be around 9mph in the morning at the Championship Course but may double that in the afternoon suggesting the early wave could have an advantage. That said, I won't put all my eggs in one basket as it didn't work out last week with a similar forecast.

The Colin Montgomerie design was built to provide a links style experience so any Open form could be useful, as will performances on other exposed desert tracks.

FRL Bet 1: Antoine Rozner @ 45/146.00

With his three DP World Tour wins coming at the Golf in Dubai Championship, the Qatar Masters and the Mauritius Open, Antoine Rozner is particularly well suited to this week's test.

Indeed, he was 12th there on his only appearance in 2024.

The Frenchman has also made fast starts on exposed layouts and they include taking the first-round lead in the 2023 Mauritius Open. That was the year after he'd won there in 2022 while he was also runner-up in that event in 2021.

He's also made the weekend in all three of his Open starts and cracked the top 20 at Hoylake in 2023.

Although the 32-year-old from Paris missed the cut at the Dubai Desert Classic last week, Rozner had logged a top 10 at the Dubai Invitational a week earlier where an opening 68 put him fourth after day one.  

Rozner is out in the very first group of the day from the 10th tee at 06:30 so have a punt at 45/146.00 (1/4, 5 places).  

FRL Bet 2: Scott Jamieson @ 110/1111.00

Scott Jamieson missed the cut in Dubai last week but in late December he'd finished ninth at the Mauritius Open.

That sums up his play of late with the Scot's last seven starts showing four missed cuts along with a fifth, a ninth and a 21st.

But volatility is just fine for a FRL punt if you can time it coincide with the good stuff and Jamieson has plenty of positives here.

For starters, he's finished 16th (2024) and 18th (2025) in his two Bahrain appearances at Monty's course.

In the first of those a 67 put him eighth after round one while last year he closed with a 65, the second best score of the day. 

Other pluses are fast starts on correlating courses. Jamieson has been a first-round leader at exposed Al Hamra (Ras al Khaimah Championship) and he also set the pace in Mauritius just over a month ago.

He's my afternoon pick at 11:50 from the 10th.  

FRL Bet 3: Brandon Robinson-Thompson @ 66/167.00

Brandon Robinson-Thompson gave us some each-way returns at last month's Alfred Dunhill Championship when, tipped at 80s for FRL, he opened with a 65 to sit fifth after day one.

BRT was on the radar due to twice being a first-round leader earlier in the season.

The most remarkable of those came in this event when he shot a sensational 61 to smash the course record and lead by three after 18 holes. He eventually finished eighth.

The other day one lead came a week later at the Qatar Masters in Doha - he opened with a 66 before finishing third - so there's something he clearly likes about these open visuals and style of golf.

While the Englishman missed the cut in Dubai last week, he shot six shots lower in round two (70 compared to a Thursday 76) so hopefully he can kick on further here.

Robinson-Thompson, a morning starter last year when he fired that 61, goes off early from the 10th at 07:10. 

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