2025 Austrian Alpine Open betting tips: Our expert’s top picks in Salzburg
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Resident betting expert Tom Jacobs picks out his top Austrian Alpine Open betting tips ahead of the DP World Tour event.
The third stop of the DP World Tour’s European swing sees a return to the schedule for the Austrian Open, last held in 2021, with some earlier editions also held in conjunction with the Challenge Tour.
American John Catlin was the last man to lift DPWT silverware in Austria, coming through a playoff with Maximilian Kieffer after the pair finished tied on 14-under. Catlin also moonlights as a reserve player on the LIV Golf Tour, stepping in on eight occasions over the past two seasons with a best T7 finish to his name.
Catlin will tee it up once again in Austria, as will European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald, who rolled back the years with an opening round 67 at the PGA Championship to top the leaderboard early on.
Before revealing who I’m backing for the week, here’s everything else you need to know…
Austrian Alpine Open key details
Venue: Gut Altentann Golf Club, Salzburg, Austria (Par 72 – 7,352 yards)
Format: 72-hole strokeplay with 36-hole cut
Purse: $2.75 million
Race to Dubai / Ryder Cup points: 3,500 / 1,000
Favorite: Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen 12/1
Last champion (2021): John Catlin (USA), -14 (playoff)
How to watch the Austrian Alpine Open
US viewers can catch all the action on the Golf Channel.
All times EDT
Thursday, May 29: The Golf Channel, 06.30
Friday, May 30: The Golf Channel, 06.30
Saturday, May 31: The Golf Channel, 07.00
Sunday, June 01: The Golf Channel, 07.00
UK viewers can catch all the action on Sky Sports Golf.
All times BST
Thursday, May 29: Sky Sports Golf, 12.00
Friday, May 30: Sky Sports Golf, 12.00
Saturday, May 31: Sky Sports Golf, 12.00
Sunday, June 01: Sky Sports Golf, 11.30
Austrian Alpine Open tee times
Tee times and groupings can be found here.
Austrian Alpine Open betting tips
The Banker: Haotong Li 22/1 e/w (Betfair/Paddy Power 6 Places)
Firstly, I don’t agree with the separation between Haotong Li and the market leaders this week. While Jordan Smith and Rasmus Neergaard-Peterson rock up as 14/1 favourites this week, Li is 8 points bigger at 22/1, despite being in exceptional form himself.
Li is the only one of the three to win this season; he’s won twice as many as Smith has won at this level, and he won the Qatar Masters earlier this season directly at Neergaard-Peterson’s expense.
Since his win, Li has posted three more top-9 finishes in six starts, finishing outside the top 20 just twice in his last seven starts.
Sure, people might find it hard to see him winning twice in one season, given his volatility and his past struggles, but we need to realign with the current form, which shows he’s on one of the most consistent runs of his career.
He performed similarly well toward the end of the 2018 season, posting four straight top-9 finishes going into the DP World Tour Championship, and when he gets on these sorts of runs, he’s difficult to ignore. For additional context, Li was a 20/1 shot to win the DP World Tour Championship that year, in a field which included all the best European golfers, led by a 10/1 Rory McIlroy. This week he’s 22/1 to beat Jordan Smith and Neergaard-Peterson. Sure, there are more players in this event, and he might not even be quite as good as he was then, but the situation is certainly easier, and I simply think he’s overpriced.
While the data isn’t the most reliable until we get to mainland Europe as we are now, Li’s SG Approach numbers have been incredible of late, ranking 6th, 2nd, 12th and 4th in his last four events, and ranking 25th, 23rd, 13th and 11th in SG Tee to Green in that same span.
At a new course where no one has an experience edge, I will take an in-form golfer who is one of the most experienced winners at the top of the market, has already won this season, and has threatened to add to his tally in two of his last four starts.
The Outsider: Sean Crocker 80/1 e/w (Betfair/Paddy Power 6 Places)
Sean Crocker is incredibly volatile, despite having the characteristics of a very solid golfer, with an excellent tee-to-green game. Injuries and putting woes have played their part, as has the desire to get back to America, but in isolation, he’s a capable player who knows how to win.
Crocker’s sole DP World Tour win came at the Hero Open back in 2022, but since then, he’s added six more top 10 finishes, highlighting his ability to get in the mix. Two of those came in 2023, three more in 2024, and another this year, when finishing 2nd at the Hainan Classic, where he was the 36-hole leader. He was poor on moving day when in contention, but bounced back with a final-round 66 to climb back into 2nd place and ultimately 3 shots adrift of the winner.
Since then, he has withdrawn after the opening round of the Turkish Airlines Open and finished 16th last week in Soudal. His last four events read MC-2-WD-16, which perfectly illustrate his career so far, but I am going to give him another shot here, given the inviting odds.
In his last two made cuts, Crocker has ranked 1st and 6th in SG Tee to Green and 3rd and 25th in SG Approach, and with Jack Nicklaus being the original designer of this course, I can see it being one that suits Crocker. An American-style course that can potentially be overpowered plays right into Crocker’s hands, and after bookend rounds of 66 last week, first put him in contention to win after round 1, and then saw climb back into the top 20 after poor middle rounds, there’s some flashes of brilliance from the American again.
At 80/1, I will take a shot on Crocker in an event where there isn’t a ton of appeal in the mid-range.
The Longshot: Luis Masaveu 125/1 e/w (Betfair/Paddy Power 6 Places)
I have been really high on Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra so far in 2025, but now it is time to turn his attention to his Fireballs GC replacement, Luis Masaveu.
A decorated amateur career, who made it to the semi-finals of the 2024 U.S. Amateur and twice made the cut at the Open de España before turning pro, Masaveu is still a raw talent with a lot to prove, but he’s heading in the right direction.
The two times Masaveu played in the Open de España, he threatened big weeks. He finished 34th in 2022, the year his compatriot Jon Rahm won, but he was 10th after round 1, 13th after round 2, and still 18th going into Sunday. It was a similar story two years later, as he sat 8th after round 1 of the 2024 Open de España, 14th after round 2, and 22nd going into Sunday.
The obvious signs have been there in limited DP World Tour starts, and while he is not pulling up any trees on LIV, Masaveu finished 9th at the International Series event in Qatar at the tail end of 2024, and more recently, T3 in Spain on the Challenge Tour, since turning pro.
Masaveu was the 36-hole leader last time out on the Challenge Tour, opening with rounds of 64 and 67 to lead at home, and while he ultimately struggled on moving day, he bounced back with a nice Sunday to hold his position, and at least put the pressure on Clement Charmasson, who won by two strokes.
He will take great comfort from watching his LIV teammate and countryman, David Puig play so well on the DP World Tour in the past year or so, and from Chacarra, who has made the seamless transition this season. It might be too simplistic to say he’s the next young Spanish star from LIV to make an impression on the DP World Tour, but he’s also shown signs that could be the case. I will take a shot on him, based on his odds and his T3 finish on the Challenge Tour last time out.
This is a pick is ultimately based on potential, something his coach, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano sees in him, having labelled him an “amazing ball striker” and someone who has “all the tools” and can be “one of those bright Spanish stars”. Obviously, Castano is going to be somewhat biased, but he’s also a good judge, having won 7 times on the DP World Tour.
One final note is that the bookies really cannot decide how to price him, given he has been as short as 33/1, the price he opened with Sky Bet this morning, and as long as 125/1, the price he is now with Paddy Power and Betfair. He will settle somewhere in between, likely at the 66/1 mark, but if you can get in quick, take this number.
The Bonus Pick: Brandon Robinson-Thompson 50/1 e/w (Paddy Power 6 Places)
Brandon Robinson-Thompson is enjoying a strong 2025, and the only thing missing from the season is a win. This was something he was able to pick up in consecutive seasons on the Challenge Tour in both 2023 and 2024, and now it’s time to find one at this level.
He’s had his chances in 2025, with four top 10 finishes posted in eleven starts, his best chance coming at the Turkish Airlines Open, where he held a three-shot lead going into Sunday. He couldn’t hold on, ending up in 4th place and 4 shots adrift of the winner, but it was another sign he could get a win this season.
In Bahrain, he went into the final round 1 shot shy of the lead and finished 8th, and in Qatar, he was 2 shots back going into Sunday, finishing 3rd, having held a two-shot lead at halfway. It’s very clear he has a problem getting over the line at this level, but like Sam Bairstow last week, I am more than happy to take a shot at him at 50/1 and bigger simply based on his current form.
We would of course have liked him to hold on a bit better last week, having been 3rd at the halfway mark, but this is a new week and one that presents the latest opportunity for him to impress.
It feels like Thompson will get over the line soon, and whether that is an empathic victory or one where he stumbles over the line matters very little to me; they both pay out the same.
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2025 Austrian Alpine Open betting tips from Today's Golfer.
