The second half of the Desert Swing begins on the European Tour this week when the inaugural Oman Open takes place in the United Arab Emirates. This part of the world is always a popular stop for a number of players and we have a competitive field for the first staging of this tournament.
There is a huge tournament Stateside and another big event in Europe next week so it is understandable that the very big names have given this one a miss but that leaves us with a really condensed field in terms of ability which should make for an extremely watchable event.
The Course
We are on the Championship course at Al Mouj Golf in Oman this week and the course looks a cracker. It is a par 72 which measures 7,365 yards but in the desert it doesn’t play as long as it sounds.
This is a coastal course so when the wind blows it will get quite tricky but generously wide fairways balance that out. The key around here is hitting fairways and greens because there is a lot of wasteland around away from the centre of the course and water is in play on 10 of the holes.
This course has been used for the Challenge Tour finals for the last three years where in the main solid drivers of the golf ball have won which could give us a clue this week.
The Field
The very stellar names in Europe are missing this week but we have a number of players with wins at this level on their CV who are teeing it up. Those include Alex Levy, Jeunghun Wang, Joost Luiten, Andy Sullivan and two time winner this season already in Shubhankar Sharma.
Challenge Tour graduates Thomas Detry, Matthieu Pavon, Alexander Bjork and Clement Sordet are among those with course form teeing it up while the popular Andrew Johnston and Soren Kjeldsen will also be on show.
Market Leaders
Alexander Levy is the favourite to win this tournament. He is 16/1 to win the event generally and while he is probably the standout player in the field there is something about him that says to me he is a little short. He is probably right to be the favourite but I prefer to be on other players.
Shubhankar Sharma is the second favourite at 20/1. He has won twice on the tour this year so bookmakers are clearly taking no chances with him. He has won his two events on different continents too which highlights that he has an all-round game but even though he has won twice he has probably had the value sucked out of him.
Andy Sullivan is coming back to form and he is the 25/1 third favourite. He is a regular in the desert and has performed well in the other events there in the past. If he can put all facets of the game together then he could stroll to this title but while his game has improved whether he is ready to win yet remains to be seen.
Joost Luiten, Thomas Detry and Jeunghun Wang are all 28/1 to win the tournament. All three are capable of winning any tournament they tee it up in and if they keep it in play off the tee then they should be there or thereabouts over the course of the four days. It is 40/1 bar.
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Main Bets
I like three main bets this week. The first of those is Joost Luiten. Admittedly there is a bit too much of an all or nothing element to the results of the Dutchman but he was just outside the top 10 last time out in the Maybank and he finished last season well. In four of his last six tournaments he has been in the top 10 for greens hit and he rarely misses a bunch of fairways so if he can get the putter going early doors then I expect Luiten to be right in the mix in this company.
Jeunghun Wang ticks a lot of boxes this week. He has won in the desert when he landed the Qatar Masters last year and he has won on a coastal course in Mauritius. In fact his desert form in all the tournaments is very good. He was right there after three rounds in the Open de France two years ago and in terms of amount of water and necessity to hit fairways this course is very similar to that one. Wang was second in fairways hit in Abu Dhabi and has been in the top 20 for greens hit in his last two events. A combination of that will give him every chance.
Alexander Bjork is another who is in decent form. He has had two top 10 finishes this season already and in both of those his statistics were very strong so they were no fluke. He also had good finishes in France and Shenzhen last season which I think is key. He has played 12 rounds around here in the Challenge Tour event and those include a 63 on his way to a seventh placed finish last year. A number of boxes are ticked by the Swede this week and I fancy he can continue his good form with another huge showing.
Outsiders
I’ll go with a couple of outsiders this week too. The first is Aaron Rai who was in the top 15 in the Challenge Tour finals here last year and who statistically at least looks to have a good chance. He led the fairways hit last week and in the Joburg Open which is a very encouraging statistic and he is rarely far away in hitting greens either. If the experience he has had around here gives him an advantage on the greens then the Challenge Tour graduate should be bang there.
Thongchai Jaidee might be a forgotten man this week. His form may not be the most encouraging in recent times but he was sat in the top 20 heading into the final round of the Maybank recently before a poor final day. Jaidee has won around the Open de France course which could well be significant. He has also finished second there too. He was in the top 10 in Shenzhen last year as well so courses which set up like this one seem to bring out the best in him. Jaidee won the Nordea Masters back in 2014 so he won’t be unsettled by the wind blowing. He’s bang out of nick but at 110/1 I’ll pay to see if he can find some inspiration here and if he does he’s a leading contender for me.
Tips
WON – Back J.Luiten to win Oman Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 29.00 with Boylesports (1/5 1-6)
Back J.Wang to win Oman Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 29.00 with Boylesports (1/5 1-6)
Back them here:
Back A.Bjork to win Oman Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 41.00 with Coral (1/5 1-7)
Back him here:
Back A.Rai to win Oman Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 81.00 with Betfred (1/5 1-6)
Back him here:
Back T.Jaidee to win Oman Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 111.00 with Betfair (1/5 1-6)
Back him here:
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Congrats Kev. Another fie selection.