Patrick Rodgers is worth siding with ahead of the Betfred British Masters according to golf expert Ben Coley.
Golf betting tips: British Masters
2pts e.w. Laurie Canter at 30/1 (Betfred 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10)
1.5pts e.w. Patrick Rodgers at 40/1 (Coral, Ladbrokes 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7)
1.5pts e.w. Thriston Lawrence at 40/1 (Coral, Ladbrokes 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7)
1pt e.w. Johannes Veerman at 80/1 (BoyleSports 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8)
1pt e.w. Matthew Jordan at 80/1 (BoyleSports 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8)
0.5pt e.w. Jens Dantorp at 225/1 (bet365 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8)
Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook
Some understandably find the persistent Ryder Cup chat which colours August and September a bit too much, but it’s inescapable at the Belfry in this week’s British Masters – and it’s partly why a much stronger field assembles than was the case 12 months ago.
Back in summer, before his return to form which surely confirmed his Ryder Cup selection, Matt Fitzpatrick added this to his schedule on the assumption he wouldn’t make it to East Lake. Alex Noren, Aaron Rai and Matt Wallace have all had to follow suit, and PGA Tour player Patrick Rodgers has decided to join them for good measure.
But where the Ryder Cup is concerned, all eyes are on Rasmus Hojgaard. Finish in a two-way tie for 29th or better and the Dane will emulate his twin brother, Nicolai, in playing in a Ryder Cup. Rasmus might also take away any remaining hope for Nicolai and others, including in-form Marco Penge, as the 12 would seem clear were he to qualify.
Should he fail to, by definition therefore having played modestly this week, Hojgaard would head to Crans as one of a handful hoping to be rewarded with the final captain’s pick. What Harry Hall does on the PGA Tour this week could play a part in this scenario, while Noren, Rai and Wallace would suddenly have some form of agency, where for now there is only hope.
For Hojgaard, second in Denmark on Sunday, the big positive outside of that return to form is that he’s won both here and at Crans before. But that also could make him vulnerable: if these are courses we know he likes, that would only make poor play more concerning. He will be desperate to qualify at the death, as Bernd Wiesberger did in 2021.
Whatever happens, we’ve a cracking tournament in front of us at a familiar venue. The Brabazon has of course hosted the Ryder Cup multiple times and, despite its imperfections, is popular among players and fans. It’s no pushover, either: 10-under won both renewals prior to last year’s, which was won in -16 but with seven-under enough for a place inside the top 10.
Many would categorise this as a fairways-and-greens challenge, but I’m intrigued by a leaderboard which featured some of the longest drivers in Europe. None are longer than the winner, Niklas Norgaard, but Hojgaard, Jeong Weon Ko and Jesper Svensson are not all that far behind. Thriston Lawrence was the short hitter of the top five, and he is by no means short.
As for why this might be, take a look at the fairways hit statistics. Norgaard ranked fourth in driving accuracy while hitting less than one in two. The most accurate driver in the field hit just 55%, presumably because fiery fairways made them artificially narrower. When everyone struggles to hit fairways, shorter approach shots are often key, with powerful players also better at hitting out of the rough.
It’s been a roaring summer in the UK and with almost no rain around of late, plus a slightly earlier slot in the calendar, we should see similar conditions. I also suspect we saw a decent trial last week, where bouncy fairways and similar scoring presented a power-packed leaderboard. More good news for Hojgaard, perhaps?
Given what’s at stake there would be some irony were an American to win this and I think PATRICK RODGERS is great value to do just that.
It’s been a tough summer for the popular former amateur star, but things improved when he started to stripe his irons in the 3M Open (MC by one), then shot rounds of 63 and 65 for 15th at the Wyndham, by some way his best result there in 10 years of trying.
That effort was enough to earn Rodgers a go at the Playoffs and he played well again to be 38th at Southwind, pound-for-pound his best result at a course which doesn’t suit his game. And while his approach play wasn’t quite as scintillating as it had been over the previous two events, it was still better than average.
This area of the game has held Rodgers back down the years but combined with his long, quality driving, good things could be around the corner, albeit he is going to need to putt better. That club has not historically been a problem and I can’t help but fall for the idea that a change of scenery and drop in grade could finally see him win.
Certainly I believe the Belfry will suit Rodgers and that idea is supported by third place in the Genesis Invitational back in the spring. That’s one of the very best pieces of form anyone in this field has produced in 2025 and it came at a course where fairways are notoriously hard to hit, one where longer drivers are therefore at an advantage.
Granted, he hasn’t travelled much, but his wife his English and, on one of few overseas starts, he contended for the Australian Open in 2023. But above all else I think he’s been put in at the wrong price. For my money he’s a better golfer than several of the 15 players ahead of him in this market and I wouldn’t assume playing away from home changes that.
Fitzpatrick merits favouritism over Rai but this is his fourth week in a row, he flies in from Caves Valley, and he’ll be the star attraction. Maybe that plus a lack of course experience will keep him from a ninth DP World Tour title although having sided with him twice for top-10s in better company lately, he’s by far the one I fear.
Beyond him it’s much of a muchness, with the next 10 priced between 12 and 25/1. It feels too compressed and while Kristoffer Reitan impresses more and more each week, and Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen is a winner waiting to happen, their prices are not generous to my eye.
That has to be the determining factor so I’ll take LAURIE CANTER, who has only been held back by his putter in previous appearances here but has shown some better signs with that club lately.
Seventh in the BMW International Open the last time he competed at this kind of level, that coming at a very similar course to this one, Canter then produced a customarily excellent ball-striking display in Scotland, before missing the cut because of the putter at Portrush.
Prior to the Open he’d been good on the greens at Oakmont and better than average in both subsequent starts, his work with David Howell generally offering encouragement. From tee-to-green he remains outstanding, arguably the number one driver of a ball in this field, and that comes from not just his power, but accuracy too.
Three top-30s in four at the Belfry probably don’t quite do him justice and we saw with a third-round 65 in 2020, when far from the player he is now, that he’s more than capable of scoring around the Brabazon. Last year he produced one of his best ball-striking displays of the season here, too, further evidence of that.
Canter’s win at Green Eagle earlier that summer came at the expense of Thriston Lawrence, later runner-up at the Belfry, and that’s a course Norgaard loves, one which is demanding off the tee. He was also seventh in Belgium when Norgaard was runner-up, and again Lawrence has performed well at that course subsequently.
I would’ve preferred to see Canter in action since the Open but the gap between the two events is narrower than last year and he came out firing back then only to suffer with his short-game. That will remain the chance we have to take with him but there is a lot of upside at the prices available.
The same goes for THRISTON LAWRENCE, one of my selections for this last year. He looked like he might pick Norgaard’s pocket for a while, too, and having chanced the course being a suitable one, siding with him again now that we know for sure is an easy enough decision.
Lawrence is hard to grade as he’s missed a lot of cuts on the PGA Tour this year, but he wouldn’t be the first to struggle to settle out there. There’s not much of a South African contingent these days and it’s just very difficult to set up some kind of base, travel across the country and compete on a piecemeal schedule.
Like Svensson and Norgaard, he should improve again back in Europe and we’ve seen it already with fourth in the Soudal Open at a course which compares pretty well with this in some ways. So does Eichenried, scene of his latest DP World Tour win, and the one before that came at Crans where he beat Wallace. Again, it’s a decent guide.
Second at Green Eagle and with further parkland form from Mount Juliet and the K Club to Wentworth and Muthaiga, this is an ideal test for Lawrence and it comes a year to the week since he followed a missed cut on the PGA Tour with a win back home, then second place here.
And while he did end the PGA Tour season with back-to-back missed cuts, yet again his tee-to-green game was sharp. He’s gained strokes off the tee on all seven starts since he was 12th in the US Open, which he followed with eighth in the Rocket Classic, and his irons have largely been solid bar the Open and one poor week outside of it.
Lawrence’s putter was the only issue on those final two PGA Tour starts but before them he’d ranked fifth, ninth and 15th in three of his previous six, and putted wonderfully in the PGA Championship, so there’s a decent chance that club comes back to life now he’s relieved of the stresses of the FedEx Cup.
He’s probably never hit the ball as well as he did in this event last year, so returning to a course he took to at the first time of asking, free from any Ryder Cup distractions as well, he looks a big danger.
Lawrence’s floor might be lower than a few above him in the betting, but what’s certain, thanks to his book of wins and second place in the Open and the BMW PGA, is that his ceiling is also higher than most.
Veer towards another American
Next on the list is JOHANNES VEERMAN, another American with the right game for the Belfry.
He’s not quite shown it yet, finishing down the field in 2021 and 2023 with a one-shot missed cut in between, but last year’s 23rd ended with his low round so far and saw him produce excellent tee-to-green numbers.
The putter tends to go one way or the other with Veerman, a big talent who can struggle for prolonged periods, and it had been horrendous in Scotland prior to last week’s big jolt of improvement in Denmark, where he was rewarded for a sustained run of quality approach play to finish eighth.
And what’s interesting about that display, on a course which could prove an ideal place to prepare for this, is that Veerman tends to get hot and stay hot. Last year’s Nedbank win was the culmination of a sustained run of excellent play. In the spring, he’d produced four top-10s in six, and back when he broke through he’d been third and eighth in his two previous DP World Tour starts.
Given that his irons have been firing all year, and that he’s wayward but powerful, coming to a course where everyone is going to play out of the rough looks good and just as slight putting improvement paved the way for that victory at Sun City, it could see him piece together back-to-back top-10s once more.
He has plenty of form which correlates well, particularly at Green Eagle, and it was in August four years ago that he bagged that first win in Prague.
MATTHEW JORDAN disappointed when made the headline pick two weeks ago but he can atone for that and contend for his first title at this level.
It was in this event at Hillside that he first announced himself to DP World Tour fans by taking the first-round lead in just his 12th professional start, before proving too classy for the Challenge Tour and bagging a first win in Italy.
I won’t be alone in being a little disappointed that he isn’t off the mark at this level yet but this has been a good year for such players, the likes of Connor Syme and Richard Mansell standing out, and Jordan contended several times during the spring including at Rinkven, a course he loves.
Second to Veerman at Sun City late last year, I’m convinced his time will come and with some good form at Green Eagle, Eichenried, Muthaiga and Crans, by no means is he limited to the kind of golf he grew up playing for all that he again showed how comfortable he is at the Open.
Jordan was 19th here when putting poorly on debut and played well for 54 holes two years ago, and with the Belfry set to play firmer, more into the hands of strong drivers, it may never have been this suitable. At 66/1 and upwards, he’s a player I can see getting involved.
Angel Ayora can definitely improve on his recent displays and stick around for a while as he did in Italy but while Dan Bradbury, last week’s contender Gregorio de Leo and powerhouse Mikael Lundberg all earned a second glance for the flier selection, the vote goes to JENS DANTORP.
Unlike the other five picks, the Swede isn’t the best driver. That’s a negative and could explain two humdrum efforts here, but he was in dire form two years ago and wasn’t really firing last year, either.
With sixth and 26th from his last two visits to Eichenried plus second place in the Soudal Open at Rinkven to his name, I want to give him one chance to show he can score at the Belfry while he’s firing and, despite a missed cut last week, that is the case right now.
Five times in his last six DP World Tour starts, Dantorp has been one of the very best iron players in the field, and from that he’s produced a handful of mid-pack finishes with the promise of more to come.
Two top-10s in the spring, first in Bahrain then in India, add depth to his form and following a second-round 69 to miss the cut by a single shot last week, he’s nicely hidden beneath the radar. At 125/1 and bigger he’s one I just keep coming back to having had an eye on him for a while.
Posted at 2100 BST on 18/08/25
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