Out of the Rough: Soudal Open (2026)

After a week off for the PGA Championship, the DP World Tour returns to action for this week’s Soudal Open.

This event, formally known as the Belgium Open, has not been a consistent stop on the DP World Tour Schedule but is now being played for the fifth consecutive year.

It was first played in 1910 and was won by Frenchman Arnaud Massey. Lee Westwood won two editions of this event in 1998 and 2000 but then the event was dropped from the schedule following his second victory.

It wasn’t until 2018 that the event made a return but in a different format as the Belgian Knockout. This event was a match play/stroke play hybrid event but was only staged twice. However, it was played at this week’s venue - Rinkven International.

From there, the event returned in 2022 as a typical stroke play event and will now be played for the fifth consecutive season. 

The Field

A week following a break for the PGA Championship and the first of three events prior to the U.S. Open, the Soudal Open has drawn a strong field.

A handful of LIV Golf Tour members will be in attendance this week to help headline the field. Most notably, Thomas Dety, Jose Luis Ballester and Victor Perez lead the charge for the Saudi based Tour.

Daniel Hillier, Jayden Schaper, Ewen Ferguson, Oliver Lindell, Mikael Lindberg, Hennie du Plessis, Casey Jarvis and Eugenio Chacarra headline the strong field of DP World Tour regulars. 

Last season, Krisottfer Reitan used this event to claim his maiden DP World Tour enroute to a PGA Tour card and eventually, a Signature Event victory at the Truist Championship.

He of course will not be back to defend his title.

Other former winners of this event playing this week include Nacho Elvira (2024) and Simon Forsstrom (2023.)

The Course

Rinkven International Golf Club in Antwerp, Belgium plays host to the Soudal Open for the fifth consecutive season.

It plays on the shorter side in terms of DP World Tour venues at 6,924 yards and a par-71.

Rinkven was in existence in the early 1980’s and was originally designed by Belgian golfer and coach, Paul Rolin. Since, the course has undergone a series of changes and was expanded to two 18 hole courses - the North and the South.

This week’s event will be held as a composite of both of the courses.

The course is described as “a wonderfully peaceful area of nature” with a “mixture of woodland and parkland holes with water coming into play on several holes,” per the venue’s website.

Getting off-the-tee with distance won’t be of the utmost importance this week as many of the holes will force layups. The fairways, although flat and exposed, are tight and tree lined. Oftentimes golfers will be taking irons off-the-tee.

In the long list of defenses that the course offers is smaller than average Bentgrass greens. 

This is an accuracy based course, so of course, Strokes Gained: Approach will be a key stat. 

Scrambling too will be of the utmost importance this week with these small Bentgrass greens and forced layups. Being able to salvage par to keep pace will be crucial

The par-five fifth here at Rinkven plays as the easiest hole on the course but is followed by a very tough stretch. Holes six, seven, eight, nine and ten ranked as the fourth, fifth, 14th, second and first in terms of toughness annually.

In all, this is a much different track than what we’ve seen on Tour so far this season.

The Weather

As of the time of writing this, Thursday calls for just a ten-percent chance of precipitation and Friday a five-percent chance. Saturday is calling for a ten-percent chance and Sunday a 15-percent chance. Temperatures will be at the lowest at 74-degrees on Thursday before jumping to 81-degrees on Friday. Saturday is calling for 82-degrees and Sunday will be the warmest at 85-degrees. Winds will begin the week at seven miles-per-hour on Thursday before falling to six miles-per-hour on Friday. Winds will return to seven miles-per-hour on Saturday before peaking at eight miles-per-hour on Sunday.

Key Stats

• Strokes Gained: Approach (SG: APP)

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

• Scrambling

• Strokes Gained: Putting (SG: PUTT)

• Greens in Regulation Percentage (GIR%)

• Driving Accuracy

• Bogey Avoidance

• Birdie or Better Percentage

Betting Card

Ewen Ferguson (+3200)

I really love what Ferguson brings to the table this week. He is currently seventh on Tour in GIR%, 23rd in driving accuracy, 24th in SG: TTG, 28th in SG: APP, 29th in bogey avoidance, 41st in birdie-or-better percentage, 46th in SG: PUTT and 83rd in scrambling. He placed 25th in his latest outing at the Estrella Damm Catalunya Championship. Prior to that he placed fourth at the Turkish Airlines Open, missed the cut at the Volvo China Open but was sixth at the Hero Indian Open. He was also the runner-up here a season ago and placed 33rd in 2023 and 58th in 2022. 

Nathan Kimsey (+4500)

Kimsey missed the cut in his latest outing at the Estrella Damm Catalunya Championship which ultimately gives us a better number this week. Without the missed cut, he’d easily be in the high 20’s or low 30’s. Prior to the missed cut he placed 29th at the Turkish Airlines Open and sixth at the Volvo China Open. Prior to back-to-back missed cuts at both the Hero Indian Open and Hainan Classic, he placed 12th at the Joburg Open, ninth at the Investec South African Open Championship, fifth at the Magical Kenya Open, 24th at the Qatar Masters and ninth at the Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship. He did play this event a season ago where he missed the cut. Kimsey is currently third on Tour in bogey avoidance, fifth in both GIR% and driving accuracy, eighth in SG: TTG, 32nd in scrambling, 39th in SG: APP, 116th in birdie-or-better percentage and 120th in SG: PUTT.

Eddie Pepperell (+5600)

This was my first click this week. Pepperrell is in some insane form coming into this week. He placed 17th at the Estrella Damm Catalunya Championship, 29th at the Turkish Airlines Open, ninth at the Hainan Classic, 28th at the Joburg Open and fifth at the Investec South African Open Championship across his last five starts. He last played this event in 2024 where he placed 69th. He also placed 22nd in 2023 and missed the cut in 2022. Pepperell is currently 15th on Tour in bogey avoidance, 17th in driving accuracy, 31st in SG: PUTT, 35th in GIR%, 38th in scrambling, 51st in SG: TTG, 55th in SG: APP and 74th in birdie-or-better percentage. 

Wenyi Ding (+7500)

Ding is going to win on the DP World Tour at some point and will likely find himself on the PGA Tour in due time. Let's not forget that he is just 21-years-old. With that being said, we’re getting a guy 75/1 who the mass consensus believes he’ll be a winner at this level. Ding is currently seventh on Tour in SG: PUTT, 16th in birdie-or-better percentage, 26th in bogey avoidance, 31st in scrambling, 39th in driving accuracy, 45th in SG: TTG, 74th in GIR% and 93rd in SG: APP. He placed 59th at the Estrella Damm Catalunya Championship, 13th at the Turkish Airlines Open, 25th at the Volvo China Open, 14th at the Hainan Classic, 29th at the Investec South African Open Championship and 23rd at the Magical Kenya Open across his last six starts. He missed the cut at this event a season ago. 

Daniel Rodrigues (+11500)

I’m more than happy to have found Rodrigues at triple digits. He is currently sixth on Tour in GIR%, 14th in bogey avoidance, 15th in driving accuracy, 40th in SG: TTG, 42nd in scrambling, 45th in birdie-or-better percentage, 47th in SG: PUTT and 73rd in SG: APP. He placed 43rd at the Estrella Damm Catalunya Championship, second at the Turkish Airlines Open, 16th at the Volvo China Open, missed the cut at the Hero Indian Open and placed sixth at the Joburg Open across his last five starts. He’ll be making his tournament debut this week. 

2025 Betting Card

• Joost Luiten (+3500) - T16th

• Brandon Robinson-Thompson (+6500) - T31st

• Jacob Skov Olesen (+8000) - T41st

• Matthew Southgate (+10000) - 64th

• Edoardo Molinari (+10000) - T41st

2024 Betting Card

• Yannik Paul (+2200) - MC

• Johannes Veerman (+5500) - T41st

• Andy Sullivan (+8000) - MC

• Nacho Elvira (+10000) - 1st

2023 Betting Card

• Thorbjorn Olesen (+2100) - 3rd

• Marcus Helligkilde (+3400) - MC

• Julien Brun (+4500) - T15th

• Daniel Brown (+9500) - T28th