The BMW International Open is the penultimate DP World Tour event before the Open Championship takes centre stage at Royal Birkdale.
Golfclub München Eichenried plays host to the event for the seventh year in a row and scores tend to be fairly low here in Munich - Daniel Brown won in 2025 with a score of 22-under par.
This event usually pulls in a strong field and this year Joaquin Niemann leads the outright market at odds of 13/2.
Defending champion Brown is out at 80/1, while former LIV golfer Patrick Reed is available at 20/1 in Munich this week.
BMW International Open First-Round Leader Tips Summary
Best Bet - Joaquin Niemann each-way @ 18/1
Alternative Bet - Angel Ayora each-way @ 30/1
Alternative Bet - Calum Hill each-way @ 55/1
BMW International Open First-Round Leader Prediction
Best Bet: Joaquin Niemann each-way @ 18/1
Joaquin Niemann is the favourite to win the BMW International Open thanks to his performances at both the US Open and Open d'Italia in recent weeks.
At Shinnecock, the Chilean recorded his best-ever major performance, finishing T7. His first-round of 78, however, had him in danger of missing the cut.
Last week, Niemann got off to a fast start at the Open d’Italia in Turin. He opened up with a 64 that saw him second after the first round, before going one shot better on Friday to take the lead heading into the weekend.
While Niemann eventually finished third, he will be keen to get off to another fast start in Munich as he bids for his second DP World Tour title.
Alternative Bet: Angel Ayora each-way @ 30/1
Angel Ayora is going to win multiple DPWT titles, watch this space. The Spaniard has came close on numerous occasions, but it wouldn't surprise me at all to see him winning the BMW International Open this week.
Ayora loves to make a fast start also. Last week, he sat T4 after round one, while going back to earlier this year, the Spaniard was sitting inside the top-three at the Kenya Open, South African Championship and the Dubai Invitational.
In Qatar, Ayora shot 66 in the first-round to trail by a single stroke, while a stunning 64 at the Joburg Open in March saw him share the first-round lead with four others.
He missed the cut on his first appearance here in 2024, before finishing just inside the top-50 last year. Now, though, Ayora is a better player, one who is closing in on his first victory on tour.
Expect him to get off to another hot start in Germany.
Alternative Bet: Calum Hill each-way @ 55/1
Calum Hill has won twice on tour, but only once in the last five years. That came at the Joburg Open in 2025, yet there are signs that the Scot is edging closer to victory number three.
He has finished second twice this year, along with recording a T6 at the Hero Indian Open and he comes into this tournament off the back of three successive top-20 finishes.
The Scot does tend to start quite well in tournaments. He was sitting third after the first-round of the Bahrain Championships and fourth at the Indian Open.
More recently, Hill opened with a 65 at the Austrian Open which had him in fourth spot heading into the second round. Last week, he started with a 69 in Italy and hopes are high he can get off to another hot start this week.
Hill has opened up with rounds of 69, 71 and 69 across his previous three appearances here in which he has made the cut. Given his consistency of late, he has a good chance of finishing Thursday near the top of the leaderboard.
Key Tournament Stats
Five players shot 67 in round one at the 2025 BMW International Open
Three different course have held the event - Golfclub München Eichenried, St. Eurach Land-und-Golfclub and Golf Club Gut Larchenhof
Angel Ayora has finished in the top-five after round one on six occasions in 2026
Joaquin Niemann shot a first-round 64 at the Open d'Italia last week
The BMW International Open was first held in 1989
Haotong Li opened up with a 62 in the first round four years ago, the lowest opening score at the event
Read more golf betting tips and predictions on site.
This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.
