The Hong Kong Open was due to be the curtain raiser to the European Tour season but was cancelled due to civil unrest in that part of the road. Now without support from the Tour, it has been rescheduled for this week and offers up a chance for Asia’s finest to win a prestigious title.
Although the European Tour are hosting an event elsewhere, a decent field has been assembled. Aaron Rai won the tournament last year but he isn’t defending it here so all eyes will be on The Open champion Shane Lowry to see if he can walk off with the title.
Recent Winners
2018 – Aaron Rai
2017 – Wade Ormsby
2016 – Sam Brazel
2015 – Justin Rose
2014 – Scott Hend
2013 – Miguel Angel Jimenez
2012 – Miguel Angel Jimenez
2011 – Rory McIlroy
2010 – Ian Poulter
2009 – Gregory Bourdy
The Course
It is the Hong Kong Golf Club which once again stages the tournament and as we have seen in the past this can be a really tough track. Aaron Rai won on 17 under last year but only two men went lower than 11 under which was the score Wade Ormsby won on the year before. The course is a par 70 which only measures a shade over 6,700 yards so there is no need to pound your way round here which is quite appealing these days.
This is a heavily treelined track so there is a premium on accuracy off the tee and really solid ball striking. If you look at each of the previous winners then with the occasional exception of Scott Hend each of them are brilliant hitters of the golf ball. These greens are quite small by modern standards as well so accuracy into the greens is going to be important as well. This is definitely a week for the straight hitter.
The Field
It almost goes without saying that the new date and the European Tour no longer having the big influence on the tournament it was due to have has reduced the quality in the field, but The Open champion Shane Lowry and PGA Tour star Tony Finau have honoured their commitment to the event. Asian star Jazz Janewattananond will lead the charge from that part of the world in what could yet be a competitive event.
Former winners Wade Ormsby, Scott Hend and Sam Brazel are all in the field while Andrea Pavan will be looking for an immediate first title of 2020. Top level Asian players such as Phachara Khongwatmai, Shiv Kapur and S S P Chawrasia are also in the field while there are a couple of interesting Americans lining up in Brandon Wu and John Catlin, the latter who could break through this year.
Market Leaders
We have co-favourites of three this week with The Open winner Shane Lowry, PGA man Tony Finau and young Asian star Jazz Janewattananond all 13/2 to land the title. There is no doubting that they are the class acts in the field but this isn’t always a tournament that panders to the star names in terms of results. I’m not sure this course brings out the best in Finau but the other two have every reason to be challenging. They are all too short for me here though.
Asian Tour rising star Gunn Charoenkul and the former winner Wade Ormsby are both 22/1 shots to win the tournament this year. The Thai played 31 events last season and missed only four cuts. He also put in a whopping 19 top 10 finishes including in his last three outings so he is a man in form, while Ormsby showed his worth at the Australian PGA Championship where he finished third, three shots behind Adam Scott in a tournament he was competitive in.
There are five players who are all 33/1 this week and each would have a case readily made for them. They are Andrea Pavan, Andrew Dodt, Phachara Khongwatmai, Sihwan Kim and Brandon Wu. Wu is said to be something special but whether that converts into a win here I’m less sure. The other four all have the credentials to put up a mighty display over the four days. It is 40/1 bar those named.
Main Bets
I’m going with a couple of former winners for my main bets this week. Wade Ormsby is the first of those. He is clearly in good touch having finished third in an Australian PGA Championship that looks a much stronger event than this one has become all of a sudden. We know this track suits the Aussie given that he won here two renewals ago and his results over 2019 as a whole were not too bad. His profile for this course is absolutely perfect and at a standout 22/1 I think he is a big price to come through and regain the title.
Scott Hend is another man who has won this title. I suspected at the time that he just had a bit of a freak week but actually his top 10 last year has made me wonder if that was the case. What I do like about the current Asian Tour number two ranked player is that he has made it clear he wants birdies and eagles this week as he is contributing to the fund overseeing the fire fighting back home for each one that he makes. Sometimes you wonder for Hend’s motivation but you don’t need to worry about that this week so at a decent price he’s my second main bet.
Outsiders
I’m with the Indians in terms of an outsider this week with two on my radar. Statistically, Ajeetesh Sandhu ticks all the boxes for me. He is high up in the driving accuracy on the Asian Tour and isn’t too far behind on the greens in regulation statistic either which has yielded some very positive results in recent times. He has been in the top 11 in three of his last five tournaments so if his putter stays hot for four more days he is more than capable of being right in the mix here this week.
Rashid Khan ticks the very same boxes as his countryman and I fancy it won’t be long before he takes down a big event. He only played in 11 events in 2019 but he was inside the top 20 in eight of them, including five top 5 finishes so when he does tee it up in this part of the world he generally runs pretty hot it has to be said. This doesn’t feel like it is going to take much to get in the mix this week given the extreme lessening in quality in the field so at a three figure price I can’t avoid the consistent Indian here.
Tips
WON – Back W.Ormsby to win Hong Kong Open (e/w) for a 1.5/10 stake at 23.00 with 888sport (1/4 1-5)
Back him here:
Back S.Hend to win Hong Kong Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 51.00 with BetVictor (1/4 1-5)
Back him here:
Back A.Sandhu to win Hong Kong Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 67.00 with Bet365 (1/4 1-5)
PLACED – Back R.Khan to win Hong Kong Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 101.00 with Boylesports (1/5 1-7)
Back him here:
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