Out of the Rough: BMW International Open (2026)

The DP World Tour looks to put a cap on its ‘European Swing’ with this week’s BMW International Open in Munich, Germany.

This event once alternated between the Golf Club Gut Lärchenhof and the Golfclub München Eichenried between 2011 and the pandemic in 2020 but has since found a home at the Golfclub München Eichenried for the sixth consecutive year.

It once served as the DP World Tour’s lone stop in Germany each season until the Porsche European Open moved to the country. That event was dropped from the schedule last season in favor of the Austrian Alpine Open.

With The Open Championship in just two weeks time, this is the final chance for anyone not qualified to play their way into the field at Royal Birkdale.

The Field

As this event serves as the final chance to secure a tee time at Royal Birkdale in two weeks time, a star studded field is lined up this week in Germany.

Race to Dubai standings leader Patrick Reed plays for a second consecutive week, also playing last week at the DS Automobiles 83° Open d'Italia.

A slew of LIV Golf Tour members will also be in attendance this week. That list includes Victor Perez, Adrian Meronk, Abraham Ancer, Carlos Ortiz, Joaquin Niemann, Sergio Garcia, Jose Luis Ballester, Sebastian Munoz, Byeong Hun An and Martin Kaymer.

YouTube golf personnel Brad Dalke is also set to tee it up this week in Germany.

Notable DP World Tour regulars playing this week include Jayden Schaper, Casey Jarvis, Eugenio Chacarra, Andy Sullivan, Dan Bradbury, Sean Norris, Daniel Hillier and Brend Wiesberger.

Kaymer is the latest German to win this event, doing so in 2008. Prior to Kaymer’s victory, a German had never won this event.

Some notable Germans teeing it up this week looking to claim victory on home soil include Freddy Schott, Marcel Siem, Marcel Scheider, Nicolai von Dellingshausen and Matti Schmid.

Daniel Brown comes in as the defending champion, having held off fellow countryman Jordan Smith by two strokes. Brown will be back this season to defend his title.

Other winners of this event at Golfclub München Eichenried playing this week include Ewen Ferguson (2024,) Thriston Lawrence (2023,) Pablo Larrazabal (2011 and 2015) and Martin Kaymer (2008.)  

The Course

The Golfclub München Eichenried in Munich, Germany plays as a par-72 at 7,284 yards.

It was designed by Kurt Rossknecht and opened in 1989 as a flat, tree-lined course with greens that run quite slowly.

There are many streams and ponds that run through the course. With the ponds in play, there are two half-island greens and 90 sand bunkers throughout. Water is in play on ten holes.

As the course has matured, so have the trees, which has helped force the scoring to lower. A 20-under-par score would not have been enough to win here in the early years. 2022 was the first time since 2009 that anyone went lower than -19.

Haotong and Pieters both carded scores of -22 before heading to a playoff in 2022. Brown also recorded a winning score of -22.

A slight-renovation took place here prior to the 2019 edition of the event with the majority of the changes coming as modifications to all of the greens.

The course too was lengthened during this renovation which didn’t make that much of a difference. The winning score was just two strokes higher than it had been in 2017.

As previously mentioned with the maturing of the trees, this course was once a bombers paradise but has since turned to reward the straight hitters off-the-tee.

The difference maker here at Golfclub München Eichenried will be the putting on these slow greens. 

In all, this course rewards the best tee-to-green players on Tour.

The Weather

As of the time of writing this, Thursday is calling for a 25-percent chance of precipitation. Friday is calling for a 25-percent chance, Saturday a 20-percent chance and Sunday just a 10-percent chance. Temperatures will begin the week at a high of 60-degrees. From there, temperatures will drop to 57-degrees on Friday before bumping up to 58-degrees on Saturday. Temperatures are also set at 58-degrees on Sunday. Winds will begin the week at eight miles-per-hour on Thursday before increasing to ten miles-per-hour on Friday. Winds will settle to nine miles-per-hour on Saturday before returning to ten miles-per-hour on Sunday. 

 Key Stats

• Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (SG: TTG)

• Strokes Gained: Putting (SG: PUTT)

• Par 4 Performance

• Scrambling

• Greens in Regulation Percentage (GIR%)

• Driving Accuracy Percentage

• Sand Saves Percentage

• Birdie or Better Percentage

• Bogey Avoidance

Betting Card

Jayden Schaper (+4000)

I’m thrilled with the price of Schaper this week with many of the LIV Golf Tour members and DP World Tour regulars topping him. Schaper is currently second on Tour in par-four average scoring, sixth in both SG: TTG and birdie-or-better percentage, 17th in bogey avoidance, 19th in GIR%, 20th in scrambling, 33rd in SG: PUTT, 38th in driving accuracy percentage and 82nd in sand saves percentage. Schaper last played the KLM Open where he finished 11th. Prior to that he placed 24th at the Soudal Open, 25th at the Estrella Damm Catalunya Championship, missed the cut at the Turkish Airlines Open, 15th at the Joburg Open and 29th at the Investec South African Open Championship. He of course is a two time winner so far this season, winning both the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open and the Alfred Dunhill Championship. He’s played this event three times previously, missing the cut across the last two seasons and placing 41st in 2023. 

Ewen Ferguson (+5000)

Although Ferguson missed the cut here a season ago, he won this event in 2024. He also missed the cut in 2023 but placed 21st in 2022. He also missed the cut in 2021. Ferguson placed 19th last week at the DS Automobiles 83° Open d'Italia. Prior to that he missed the cut at the KLM Open, placed 17th at the Austrian Alpine Open, missed the cut at the Soudal Open, placed 25th at the Estrella Damm Catalunya Championship, fourth at the Turkish Airlines Open, missed the cut at the Volvo China Open and placed sixth at the Hero Indian Open. He is currently tenth on Tour in GIR%, 11th in bogey avoidance, 21st in SG: TTG, 22nd in driving accuracy percentage, 25th in par-four average scoring, 33rd in birdie-or-better percentage, 39th in SG: PUTT, 55th in scrambling and 89th in sand saves percentage. 

Kota Kaneko (+7000)

Kaneko is currently first on Tour in SG: PUTT. He is also second on Tour in both scrambling and bogey avoidance, seventh in driving accuracy percentage, eighth in par-four average scoring, 20th in sand saves percentage, 55th in GIR%, 67th in birdie-or-better percentage and 94th in SG: TTG. He placed 11th last week at the DS Automobiles 83° Open d'Italia. Prior to that he won the Austrian Alpine Open. He also placed second at the Soudal Open, missed the cut at the Estrella Damm Catalunya Championship and ninth at the Turkish Airlines Open across his last five starts. He’ll be making his tournament debut this week. 

Nathan Kimsey (+7500)

Kimsey last played the KLM Open where he missed the cut. Prior to that he placed 17th at the Austrian Alpine Open, eighth at the Soudal Open, missed the cut at the Estrella Damm Catalunya Championship, placed 29th at the Turkish Airlines Open and sixth at the Volvo China Open. He placed 53rd here at this event a season ago. Kimsey is currently fourth on Tour in both GIR% and driving accuracy percentage, sixth in bogey avoidance, eighth in both SG: TTG and par-four average scoring, 21st in scrambling, 51st in birdie-or-better percentage, 116th in SG: PUTT and 139th in sand saves percentage.

Shaun Norris (+12000)

Right behind Kaneko, Norris is the Tour’s second best putter. He is also second on Tour in par-four average scoring, seventh in bogey avoidance, eighth in birdie-or-better percentage, 12th in scrambling, 18th in sand saves percentage, 31st in driving accuracy percentage, 77th in SG: TTG and 96th in GIR%. He last played the Estrella Damm Catalunya Championship where he placed second. Prior to that he was fourth at the Volvo China Open. He also placed 26th here a season ago and fifth in 2021.

Ricardo Gouveia (+12500)

Although Gouveia missed the cut last week at the DS Automobiles 83° Open d'Italia, he had an impressive run of form prior. He placed 38th at the KLM Open, second at the Austrian Alpine Open, 24th at the Soudal Open, 13th at the Estrella Damm Catalunya Championship and seventh at the Volvo China Open. He placed 61st at this event a season ago and missed the cut in both 2024 and 2022. Gouveia is currently second on Tour in par-four average scoring, ninth in SG: PUTT, 17th in both GIR% and bogey avoidance, 18th in driving accuracy percentage, 35th in birdie-or-better percentage, 65th in SG: TTG, 78th in scrambling and 79th in sand saves percentage.

2025 Betting Card

• Francesco Laporta (+4500) - T7th

• Marcel Schneider (+5000) - T26th

• Kristoffer Reitan (+6600) - T4th

• Daniel Hillier (+9000) - MC

• Kazuma Kobori (+20000) - 3rd

2024 Betting Card

• Keita Nakajima (+2500) - T20th

• Thriston Lawrence (+3000) - MC

• Paul Waring (+7500) - MC

• Aaron Cockerill (+11000) - MC

2023 Betting Card

• Antoine Rozner (+2200) - T43rd

• Joost Luiten (+4000) - 2nd

• Ewen Ferguson (+4000) - MC

• Aaron Cockerill (+6000) - MC