Steve Rawlings' Long Odds Golf Tips: Two to back at huge prices in Paris

Two picks in Paris from Steve this week

The Open de France is back home after the 2025 renewal was staged at Golf de Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche while its usual venue, Le Golf National, underwent a renovation due to the expansion of the greater Paris underground.

That's good news for long-shot backers as the last four winners of the event at Paris National have gone off at odds ranging between 110.0109/1 and 160.0159/1 on the Betfair Exchange.

So, this week, I've picked out two, starting with the recent British Masters victor, Joe Dean.

Open de France Bet 1 - Back Joe Dean @ 110.0109/1

Although he pounced from a long way off the pace at the Belfry, having been seven off the lead and tied for 25^th with 18 to play, Sheffield's Joe Dean was not winning out of turn when he claimed the British Masters at the end of last month.

The 32-year-old first came to the attention of golf fans when he finished runner-up in the Kenya Open in 2024 - just a short time after he'd been earning his living as a supermarket delivery driver - and it wasn't long before he proved that not to be a fluke.

After a fifth placed finish in the Soudal Open three months later, another month passed before he lost in a playoff at the KLM Open.

Dean recorded five more top five finishes in-between his extra time defeat at the KLM Open and his off-the-pace victory last month and he may well feel he should have notched another one here on debut two years ago.

Dean is an accurate driver off the back with a superb tee-to-green game, which is why he often plays well on tree-lined tracks, and it also explains why he led here after round one on the first occasion he played the course.

He was still coming to terms with life on Tour at that stage, so it was a bumpy ride that followed, adding rounds of 71, 66 and 73 to his opening 65. He finished the week in a tie for 18^th.

He'd sat alongside the eventual winner, Dan Bradbury, in a tie for fourth, just three off the lead with 18 to play so it was a disappointing finish but he's a completely different player now he's had the taste of victory and I'm quite surprised to see him trading at a triple figure price.

Open de France Bet 2 - Back Adrian Otaegui @ 260.0259/1

My only other pick is the five-time DP World Tour winner, Adrian Otaegui, who really should have won six times given how close he came to success at the China Open back in April when he traded at as low as 1.152/13 on the Betfair Exchange when he led by three with nine holes to play.

Since getting off the mark in the now defunct Paul Lawrie Match Play in 2017, the 33-year-old has won in 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2024 so he's perhaps due another win and this place suits his eye.

Accurate from tee-to-green, Otaegui has form figures at Paris National reading MC-MC-MC-33-7-12-MC-13-16-57 so it's somewhere he's performed nicely at previously.

He's been under something of a cloud since his near miss in China but he's shown signs of life of late and he sat 12^th at halfway last week at Wentworth where he eventually finished tied for 39^th.

He's never managed better than seventh at Paris National, but he led at halfway nine years ago at the midway point and I thought he was far too big for someone so prolific at getting on for 300/1301.00.

As highlighted in this week's preview, we've witnessed all sorts of drama here over the years and third round leaders have a poor record so I'll be looking to lay both selections back in-running if they trade below 10/111.00 and I'll be taking plenty of profit should either man trade at odds-on.

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