Italian Open 2025: The Punter's Preview

• Spectacular new venue awaits

• Will Scrambling be the key stat at Argentario

• Read my Rocket Classic preview here

Tournament History

The Italian Open was first staged way back in 1925 and this is the 82^nd edition. It's been a permanent fixture on the DP World Tour ever since its inception in 1972.

The Italian Open is largely a nomadic event and after three consecutive renewals at last year's Ryder Cup venue, the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, and a dramatic renewal at the Adriatic Golf Club Cervia in the northern city of Ravenna 12 months ago, it moves to the Argentario Golf Club in Tuscany for the very first time this time around. 

Venue

Argentario Golf & Wellness Resort, Porto Ercole, Tuscany.

Course Details

Par 71, 6,857 yards 

Designed by David Mezzacane and professional golfer Baldovino Dassù, Argentario Golf Course opened in 2006.

It's a short but stunning and varied layout, described as one of the most spectacular courses in Italy.

The technically challenging test requires golfers to weave in and out of natural mediterranean vegetation and ancient olive groves, whilst offering remarkable views of the Orbetello Lagoon, particularly on the back nine.

It's an exposed coastal track and although it certainly doesn't look it from the videos and photos seen, I've heard described as linksy.

The greens are sloping and small and the video below provides a good feel for the layout.

Argentario has never been used at this level before, but it was the venue for the Italian Senior Open in 2022 and for the Italian Challenge Open on the HotelPlanner Tour nine months ago.

Weather Forecast

TV Coverage

Live on Sky Sports all four days, starting at noon on Thursday.

Last Eight Winners with Pre-event Exchange Prices

2024 - Marcel Siem -10 230.0229/1 (playoff)
2023 - Adrian Meronk -13 25.024/1
2022 - Robert MacIntyre -14 60.059/1 (playoff)
2021 - Nicolai Hojgaard -13 290.0289/1
2020 - Ross McGowan -20 1000.0999/1
2019 - Bernd Wiesberger -16 55.054/1
2018 - Thorbjorn Olesen -22 130.0129/1
2017 - Tyrrell Hatton -21 20.019/1

Previous form at Argentario

The four-time DP World Tour winner, Ricardo Gonzalez, won the Italian Senior Open here by a couple of strokes over James Kingdom and the Argentine was the only player to finish under-par.

The senior's event was staged in October and could well have been affected by wind as John Parry won the Italian Challenge Open in September last year in 18-under-par.

Numerous players that contended last year now play on the DP World Tour, including the winner, Parry, and the recent Austrian Alpine Open winner, Nicolai von Dellingshausen, and the conditions must have been much easier than those encountered in 2022 as there were some very low scores posted.

Oliver Lindell shot the lowest round of the week - a nine-under-par 62 - that included six birdies in-a-row on the front nine and Wil Besseling birdied four of the last five holes on day one to post a bogey-free 63.

Is There an Angle In?

We really don't have an awful lot to go on but all four of Gonzalez's DP World Tour victories came on courses that could be described as short and perhaps a bit fiddly.

He won the Omega European Masters at Crans, the Madrid Open at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, the Open de Savilla at Real Club Sevilla Golf and the Scandinavian Masters at Barseback - all venues that require a high level of skill around the greens.

The greens here are small so everyone is going to miss them with a high level of frequency so the Scrambling and Strokes Gained: Around the Green stats may provide a few clues.

No stats were produced for either of the two previous tournaments staged here but John Parry has topped the Scrambling stats a few times recently, including when he contended in Kenya around another course that rewards smart scrambling around the greens - Muthaiga Golf Club.

For what it's worth, the designer, David Mezzacane, was also responsible for the Ryder Cup venue, Marco Simone, which also hosted this event in 2021, 2022 and 2023, as well as Nazionale, which hosted the Italian Challenge Open on the Hotel Planner Tour in 2022 and 2023.

Is There an Identikit Winner?

Francesco Molinari's victory at the Italian Open nine years ago was his second in the tournament. He took the title ten years earlier at Castello Tolcinasco and previous winners deserve serious consideration.

In addition to Molinari, Ian Poulter, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and Hennie Otto have all won the event twice this century and all four have won at different venues.

Last year's winner, Marcel Siem, had finished inside the top ten three times previously but he's unlikely to defend the title.

Frenchman, Auguste Boyer, won his third and fourth titles back-to-back in 1930-31 and Belgium's Flory Van Donck made an unusual defence given he won consecutive renewals either side of World War II in 1938 and 1947 but they're the only two to defend the title.

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.

In-Play Tactics

With just two events to look back on, clues are thin on the ground, but the front two in the Seniors Open occupied the top two places through all three rounds and Von Dellingshausen, who shot back-to-back 65s over the weekend, was the only player to finish inside the top-five not to be inside the top-ten at halfway, suggesting it might be a tough venue at which to play catch up.

I'm taking a week off to refresh the batteries ahead of the year's final major next month - the Open Championship - so there'll be no pre-event selections this week, but Matt Cooper will also be looking at the tournament, proving some each-way fancies, and he'll also cover the Find Me a 100 Winner column and In-Play Blog for me. I'll be back next week with the De-Brief.

Now read more golf previews and tips here