This week on the DP World Tour, we’re in for a treat as the BMW International Open heads to Golf Club Munchen. It’s one of the standout events on the DP World Tour calendar, and it has a quality golf course to match.
The track is a 7,354yard par 72, and it demands consistent ball striking over the four days if players are to even be in contention come Sunday. Just look at the recent list of winners. We have Daniel Brown, Ewen Ferguson, Haotong Li, Thriston Lawrence and Viktor Hovland. That alone gives you all the evidence you need that this is a golf course built for the ball strikers.
With that in mind, let’s talk about the course in more depth, before I share my best bets to win the BMW International 2026.
2026 BMW International Course Analysis
Golf Club Munchen is a really well-designed layout. Off the tee, distance isn’t essential, but you do want players who are consistently solid in that department. Those who are accurate off the tee will often leave themselves much better angles into the greens, and that could be a nice advantage to have. So, while driving isn’t the biggest factor this week, I still want players who possess a decent blend of both distance and accuracy.
The real scoring though, comes with the approach shots. If you consistently hit greens around here, you’ll give yourself every chance of putting together a low score. Once again, it all comes back to finding quality, and reliable iron players.
That’s been one of the biggest factors in putting my squad together this week. The greens are generally soft enough that the better ball strikers can really attack the pins, and that gives them a huge advantage over four rounds.
I wouldn’t be too interested in the volatile players this week or the ones who like to sling the ball both ways. I just don’t think that’s the ideal recipe around here. Instead, I want consistency, repeatable golf swings and players who can produce a fairly straight ball flight throughout the week.
As always, I start with a longlist before narrowing it down to my final selections. This week I’ve settled on a five-man squad, although it certainly wasn’t easy because there are plenty of players with genuine chances.
The five I’ve selected though all have strong credentials, and four of them are available at 100/1 or bigger, so I think there’s plenty of value in the team I’ve put together. I am ultimately very happy with my final squad.
We landed a 100/1 winner two weeks ago and followed that up with a 150/1 place last week with Dan Rodrigues, so I’m desperate to keep that good run going.
I genuinely think I’ve got the right squad to do battle this week, and the prices make it even more interesting. As always, gamble responsibly, and if you aren’t a regular DP World Tour viewer, I advise giving this one a shot. It’s a fantastic event!
1. Shaun Norris (+10000)
My number one selection this week is South African Shaun Norris. He is currently world number 90, sits 10th in the Race to Dubai standings, and is a 14-time professional winner, so he’s a very well-established player.
Norris is someone I’ve followed closely over the years. Although he hasn’t played a huge amount this season, the form he has shown has been top class. He opened the campaign with a fifth -place finish at the Nedbank Challenge before finishing runner up at the Alfred Dunhill Championship, where he was edged out by Jayden Schaper in a dramatic playoff.
He also brings some excellent recent form into this event. He finished fourth at the China Open before following that up with second place at the Catalunya Championship. They’re two courses you simply don’t play well on unless your game is in really good shape, and across those two events I’d argue Shaun Norris was one of the standout performers.
This week’s course should really play to his strengths. He’s perfectly solid off the tee, but it’s his iron play that can shine around Munchen. With the greens expected to be on the softer side, his aggressive approach game should come to the fore.
Norris is a really consistent attacking iron player, and the fact he has such a repeatable golf swing makes him extremely reliable under pressure. That’s probably one of the biggest reasons why he’s managed to rack up so many professional victories.
As I mentioned, Norris has spent a huge amount of his career playing in Japan, where he has won nine times. That’s another positive this week because many of the courses over there feature bentgrass greens, just like we’ll see in Munich. This factor is significant and looks to have gone unnoticed. He’s clearly more than comfortable on this type of surface.
Providing he drives the ball consistently enough, which he does in general, I think his iron play on these soft greens, combined with his proven record on bentgrass, brings him right into the mix. I actually thought he’d be much shorter in the betting, so at the current prices, he stands out as my strongest selection of the week.
2. Tom Vaillant (+12500)
I’m going to take a chance on world number 311 Tom Vaillant this week. He’s another player available at +12500, and I think he’s a lot better than those odds suggest.
At just 24 years old, he’s still learning his trade. However, Vaillant is a player who has shown plenty of class when everything clicks. He did miss the cut here last season, but I actually think this is a really good course for him.
At this time last year, he wasn’t driving the ball particularly well, his iron play wasn’t where it needed to be, and his overall game just wasn’t firing on all cylinders. I’m more than happy to overlook that when you look at some of the performances he’s produced elsewhere.
Last season, the standout performance for me came at The Belfry in the British Masters, where he was superb from tee to green. He also got to 13-under at the European Masters before shooting 10-under at Wentworth. These three courses that correlate well with the one in Munich, as all of them demand proper ball striking if you’re going to contend. Again, similar to the test this week.
I think Vaillant has exactly the attributes needed for Munchen, and I can see him putting together some really low rounds this week. His recent form is encouraging too. He finished sixth at the China Open, just one shot behind Shaun Norris, which again suggests his game is moving in the right direction.
If it all clicks this week, I think Tom Vaillant is a player who could easily go under the radar. Don’t underestimate him. He’s improving all the time, and I’d be surprised if he doesn’t break through for his first DP World Tour title in the not too distant future. At over 100/1, I think he’s a live contender.
3. David Bryant (+9000)
I put Davis Bryant up last week for the Italian Open, and it was a solid enough week in the end as he finished on 7-under par. As you’d expect, his tee-to-green game was excellent throughout, but he simply just didn’t hole enough putts to really challenge at the top of the leaderboard.
There’s no doubt his game is in great shape though. While I’m not usually someone who places a huge emphasis on course form, it’s impossible to ignore what he did here last year. He led after the opening two rounds, made a hole-in-one, and eventually finished fourth in what was an excellent tournament from start to finish. It’s also worth remembering that was his rookie season. This year he’s playing even better, and I genuinely believe a win isn’t far away.
Davis Bryant is a player trending strongly in the right direction. His game has been consistently good all season. He isn’t one of the longest hitters off the tee, but he’s very accurate, and when his iron play clicks, he is an absolute joy to watch. Few players strike it as consistently well as he does, or at least, has this season.
Considering the form he’s shown this season, I’m a little surprised the bookmakers are still offering the sort of price they are. Providing he continues to find fairways off the tee, which hasn’t been an issue for him all year, then this course should really suit him.
Munchen Golf Club rewards consistent iron players, and in my opinion, Bryant has been one of the best in that department on the DP World Tour this season.
He finished runner up in Kenya, runner up again in Austria, and it feels like he’s getting closer with every start. He’s still only 26 years old and very much learning his craft, but this could be a big opportunity for him. If he can put himself into contention over the weekend, I think he has every chance of significantly outperforming his odds.
4. Matti Schmid (+4000)
One of the two home players in my squad this week is Matti Schmid, who has been playing predominantly on the PGA Tour this season. He comes into the tournament as the highest-ranked German in the field, and his transition to the PGA Tour has been a really smooth one.
Schmid’s posted multiple top 10 finishes this season, but the standout performance was undoubtedly his superb fourth place finish at the PGA Championship, one of the toughest tests we’ve seen all year.
Coming back to the DP World Tour represents a significant drop in class, and for me that should have him much closer to the head of the market around the 25/1 mark. Seeing him available at double the price of some of the favourites immediately caught my attention. The value has played a big part in him making my squad, but make no mistake about it, he has every chance of winning this tournament.
He played well in this event last year, and I actually think his iron play is still a little underrated. I’ve mentioned already that keeping the ball in play off the tee is important this week. Schmid can occasionally get a little wayward with the driver, but if he drives it well enough to give himself opportunities, I think he’ll go extremely well.
The softer greens should also suit him because he’s naturally an aggressive iron player who likes to attack the flags. Another part of his game I really like this week is his putting. He uses a long putter and has adapted to it brilliantly. He gets a lovely roll on the ball and looks incredibly comfortable on the greens.
The fact he’s come back from the PGA Tour to tee it up in his home Open also tells you plenty. He’ll be desperate to win in front of the home crowds, and I think he has an outstanding chance of doing exactly that.
5. Nicolai von Dellinghausen (+15000)
The final member of this week’s squad is Nicolai von Dellingshausen. He’s a player who can go in and out of form quite quickly, so he isn’t always the easiest to predict. That said, he’s already proven he can get the job done at this level, having won last season’s Austrian Alpine Open, and he’s backed that up with plenty of solid performances since.
Von Dellinghause’s a player with a really calm attitude on the golf course, and there are a few reasons why I’ve included him this week.
Firstly, I think 150/1 is simply too big a price for a player with his credentials. Secondly, he’s the type of golfer who tends to work his way into tournaments. He doesn’t force the issue, he sticks to his own game, and before you know it, he’s quietly climbing the leaderboard. When everything clicks, he’s already shown he can compete with the best players on the DP World Tour.
One thing I also like about him is his damage limitation. He may not be the most prolific winner or the most consistent player when it comes to contending, but he does a really good job of saving pars and keeping momentum going when others start making mistakes. Around a course like this, that can be a very valuable asset over four rounds.
I don’t usually put a huge amount of emphasis on players competing in their home country, but it’s fair to say von Dellingshausen has enjoyed success in Germany throughout his golfing career, even before turning professional. In what I see as a wide-open tournament, he certainly comes into the equation.
I think the bookmakers have overlooked him this week. Yes, he can be inconsistent at times, but his game looks to be in good shape, and at 150/1, he’s simply too big a price to ignore.
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