Golf Tip: Best bets for Rocket Classic and Italian Open

• Steve Rawlings previews the Rocket Classic and Italian Open

• Dave Tindall and Matt Cooper provide their best e/w bets

• Course info, first round leader, outsiders to back at over 100/1101.00

Rocket Classic tips and prediction

The Punter's Preview: Get ready for a birdie-fest

Steve Rawlings: "This is a low scoring event and making up lots of ground will be extremely difficult.

"Lashley won the first edition wire-to-wire, DeChambeau and Cam Davis (twice) were never far away, Finau almost led from start to finish and seven of the top eight in 2023 were inside the top nine places at halfway.

"All six winners have been inside the top three places with a round to go and three of the six were leading or tied for the lead.

"Concentrating on the leaders from very early on will probably play dividends."

Each-way picks from 30/1 to 70/1

Dave Tindall: "Hideki Matsuyama has always been a great chipper so it's no surprise to find him sixth for Around The Green this season. So if all that looks good and we note that he gained strokes on the greens for the fifth start out of sixth when 30th at the Travelers, the clues are there.

"The 11-time PGA Tour winner (the most recent at January's Sentry) was sixth the last time he tackled a Donald Ross course and that was in last year's US Open at Pinehurst No.2 Go through Matsuyama's record and you'll also find him third at Sedgefield. At this course, he was 13th on debut in 2019 and fired a 7-under 65 when 21st a year later. WD (2021) and MC (2023) in the last two don't add to that although he did shoot a Friday 68 when making an early exit in 2023.

"Matsuyama is 33/1 in the 6 Place market and it's easy to highlight as value if put up against 12/1 Collin Morikawa and 18/1 Patrick Cantlay. That pair last won on American soil in 2021 and 2022 respectively. Matsuyama has three wins in the last 16 months (okay, one was in Hawaii) and with a couple of recent top 10s he'd be half the price in a field of this modest quality."

First Round Leader Tips from 80/1 to 100/1

Matt Cooper: "In his last 13 starts the German Stephan Jaeger has ended the first round T11th or better seven times with a best of a share of the lead in the Valspar Championship.

"Now he returns to a course he's enjoyed in the past, registering two top 10s in four starts when fifth in 2022 and ninth in 2023.

"In the former, he was top 10 after 18 holes and, in the latter, his potential to go low was proved with a final round 63.

"He's also carded a 64 and a 62 at the Ross-designed Sedgefield - and his major championship best result was (comfortably) at the Ross-designed Pinehurst (T21st).

"Back in his days on the Korn Ferry Tour, he thrashed 64-62-65-70 when second at, you guessed it, Ross designed Holston Hills - that had him third after 18 holes and first after 36.

"He can go low again from a 12:43 start time and is a bet at 80/181.00 (1/4, 5 places)."

Course and current form stats

Andy Swales: "This week's layout uses 17 holes from the club's North Course, plus one from the South. A traditional parkland venue with tree-lined fairways, the North Course has putting surfaces that are smaller than the PGA Tour average.

"Water is only an issue on one hole (14th), while the course is one of the flattest in top level professional golf, with an overall change in terrain of less than three feet. Fairways and greens are sown with Bentgrass, and over-seeded with Poa annua, which is the same as at last week's venue TPC River Highlands in Connecticut.

"The average fairway width at Detroit is 30 yards, which is about the normal measurement for a run of the mill PGA Tour event. A $16m renovation project is planned for the North Course following the completion of this week's event and should be ready in time for the 2026 instalment...

"As for those with a good course history, then make a note of the two Camerons: Cameron Davis 80/1 is a two-time winner here, while Cameron Young 28/1 has posted a brace of top-six finishes."

Italian Open tips and prediction

Italian Open 2025: Trends suggest an English outsider could go well

Steve Rawlings: "The English tend to do well here and at least one Englishman has finished first or second in 12 of the last 17 renewals.

"This has been a very good event for outsiders. The three winners at Marco Simone - Adrian Meronk, Robert Macintyre and Nicolai Hojgaard are all top-class players but Macintyre and Hojgaard, in particular, were far from obvious candidates before the off and Siem was tough to spot before the get-go 12 months ago.

"Ross McGowan was a 1000.0999/1 chance five years ago and he's just one of many longshots to take the title this century."

Each-Way Tips: 25/1 Ferguson set for spa treatment

Matt Cooper: "Back in 2022 Ewen Ferguson was the four shot 54-hole leader at Muthaiga but he was yet to become a DP World Tour leader at the time and blinked in the final round, carding a 76 for eighth. He has, however, backed up his fondness for that track since then, when seventh there earlier this year. What, then, of Adamstal? He was second there in 2019 and second again in 2021.

"Shortly after that near miss at Muthaiga in early 2022, he showed that he had learned lessons of being in contention to win the Qatar Masters and he added the ISPS Handa Invitational later that year. Next week he will defend the BMW International Open in Munich and he could well go there as a four-time winner because he's in great nick as well as being a potentially excellent fit for the test.

"He was top ten after 36 and 54 holes in Turkey three starts ago, the 54-hole leader when second in Belgium, and then fourth late time out in the Netherlands."

Find Me a 100 Winner: Try this 209/1 Schott

Matt Cooper: "In his preview of the Italian Open Steve, noted that this week's course was designed by David Mezzacane who was also a co-designer at Nazionale. That track hosted the Italian Challenge in 2022 and the German Freddy Schott took to it, carding rounds of 66-67 to lead at halfway. A Saturday 71 maintained a share of the lead, but another 71 on Sunday saw him slip back to fifth.

"That layout was below 7,000 yards as is this week's test and in that period durnig the summer three years ago  the 23-year-old was also fourth at Golf Blue Green and third at Adamstal - both of them well below 7,000 yards.

"The latter is also a course which players who thrived at Argentario in last year's Challenge Tour event have played well on, as is Muthaiga in Kenya (a track that plays shorter than 7,000 yards due to altitude) - and Schott was seventh there earlier this year. He's not done much more than make the cut in his last two outings, but I like those three clues."

Form stats for this week's historic event

Andy Swales: "Laid out close to Italy's western coastline, Argentario Golf Resort is located approximately 90 miles north of Rome and will be staging the national open for the first time. Argentario Golf Resort did, however, host its maiden Challenge Tour event just 10 months ago when England's John Parry triumphed by a single shot. This week's instalment of the Italian Open will be the 82nd.

"This week's field does not include any members of the world's top 80, with approximately 25% of entrants having competed in last year's Challenge Tour event hosted by this week's venue Argentario. Among those who played in that tournament, and finished inside the top dozen, are Nicolai Von Dellingshausen 60/1, Brandon Robinson-Thompson 75/1, Angel Ayora 45/1 and Oliver Lindell 70/1.

"Von Dellingshausen recently claimed his first DP World Tour victory in Austria and followed that up with a tied-seventh in the Netherlands."

Now read Open Championship 2025: Two picks from Dave Tindall in his early look at Royal Portrush