The DP World Tour heads back to Thailand for the first time in a number of years this week for the inaugural Thailand Classic, an event which continues to see Asia as part of the tour after the pandemic put paid to them heading to this part of the world for so long.
This is the first staging of this event, as it was the Singapore Classic last week. Seven years ago Scott Hend won the last tournament held in Thailand on the DP World Tour and someone will walk off with all the usual benefits for winning this one.
The Course
We are at the Amata Spring Country Club in Thailand this week. This course has been used in the past. The Royal Trophy was held here from 2006 to 2010 and it was also a track which staged the international qualifiers for The Open. It was also used on the Asian Tour between 2011 and 2015 so it isn’t new but it is new to the majority of DP World Tour players who will be teeing it up this week, with only the veterans likely to have seen the course before.
The track is a par 72 and it is a bit of a monster at 7,505 yards, especially if the heavy air makes the course soft and not much run on the ball. The iconic hole here is the penultimate hole which is their own tribute to TPC Sawgrass with an island green which is actually movable. Unlike at Sawgrass there is no walkway to this green. The only way to get there is by boat! Water is in play on a number of the holes and as ever in this part of the world driving accuracy and a good short game is the order of the day.
The Field
As you would expect with the level of events over in America beginning to crank up, this isn’t the best field ever assembled for a DP World Tour event but much like in Singapore last week it is competitive enough and should account for some decent golf. We have six members of the top 100 in the world rankings here this week. They are headed by Adrian Otaegui. His fellow Spanish player Pablo Larrazabal is also in the field.
The Japanese player Kazuki Higa also tees it up this week as so Thriston Lawrence, Jordan Smith and Robert MacIntyre. We also have three members of the top 10 in the Race to Dubai rankings here this week in Sami Valimaki, Sebastian Soderberg and Daniel Gavins, each looking to improve their positions with the big names missing. Dan Bradbury, Antoine Rozner, Alexander Bjork and Jason Scrivener all sit in the top 15 on the Race to Dubai list and they’ll be looking to improve accordingly too.
Market Leaders
We have joint favourites at 18/1 this week in Jordan Smith and Nicolai Hojgaard. Both were winners of tournaments last season and will be looking to add their first piece of silverware to their collection for this season this week. If accuracy is going to be the sort of thing I think it is the latter might come under pressure at some point. The long game of Smith is very good and I would favour him of the pair but his putter will need to be hot.
Robert MacIntyre was the market leader at the Singapore Classic last week but didn’t make it to the weekend which has to be a negative. The blustery early conditions of this tournament might well suit him as should the accuracy test but there is something about the Scot that doesn’t look to be firing on all cylinders at the minute. You have to go back to October for his last top 10 on the DP World Tour so 20/1 looks plenty short enough for him.
Thorbjorn Olesen is next in the betting at 22/1 and this could be the sort of test which is right up his street if he can keep the driver straight. He has an excellent short game and at his best would be of the sort of quality to lead this field a bit of a merry dance. Olesen will be seeking a Ryder Cup place at the end of the season and he has started the new campaign T20-T16-T4 so he is definitely ticking in the right direction. He is one to watch.
Another who could be one to watch is Antoine Rozner. The Frenchman can be backed at 25/1 to get the job done this week. Rozner won in Mauritius towards the end of 2022 and he was in the top six in Singapore last week so he is certainly hitting the ball well enough to contend here. The question mark is whether he is long enough but if he has the length to compete then he certainly has the long game to do so and isn’t without a chance.
Main Bets
Jason Scrivener is the first of my main bets this week. I’m taking a premium on accuracy over length this week and there aren’t many straighter than him on the tour. Scrivener has plenty of form in Asia and that could be significant this week given how long the DP World Tour has been away from this part of the world. Scrivener has won at this level before and comes into the week with top 10s at the Australian PGA and in Abu Dhabi and sits 12th on the tour this season for driving accuracy. He feels like a leading contender this week.
Another man should be in contention here is Fabrizio Zanotti. He was third for driving accuracy on the tour last season and sits in the top 20 of it this term. Zanotti won the Maybank Championship in Asia in 2017 so we know he can go well in these conditions. The Paraguayan probably can’t live on the bombers tracks of the desert but he can in these events. An indifferent third round cost him a decent finish in Singapore last week. If he can put four rounds together here he should go very well.
Outsiders
There isn’t a huge amount that I like in terms of outsiders this week but I will take a chance on Jamie Donaldson who is the only man in the field who has won around here. Admittedly that was in his glory days of 2015 but he had three top 10s in big events last season and has started this year solidly if not spectacularly.
He has made the cut in all three events this term but two of those were the Rolex Series events which are probably beyond him these days. His effort in Singapore last week was probably a disappointment but he’ll have good memories of this place and that might bring out his best golf. In not the strongest field in the world I’ll pay and see how we go.
Tips
Back J.Scrivener to win Thailand Classic (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 41.00 with Betfair (1/5 1-7)
Back F.Zanotti to win Thailand Classic (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 51.00 with Betway (1/5 1-7)
Back J.Donaldson to win Thailand Classic (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 81.00 with Boylesports (1/5 1-8)
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