There is no action from the European Tour or the PGA Tour this week so for our golf fix we head to the Asian Tour where one of the biggest events of the season takes place which is the Thailand Golf Championship.
With a lack of action worldwide this tournament is no stranger to strong fields and it has some big names teeing it up this year including the tournament favourite Bubba Watson who plays fresh off the back of his win in the Hero World Challenge last week.
Lee Westwood won the title 12 months ago and he is a 25/1 poke to keep the title at the end of this week. Westwood is a two time winner around here so he’ll be looking for a hat-trick.
Amata Spring Country Club in Chonburi is the venue for the tournament again this week and it is a wonderfully produced course with water in play on a number of holes, especially early in the round, and a fair amount of sand to catch the errant shot too.
Although it is only 7,300 yards long to a par of 72 the longer hitters have a bit of an advantage here as they can fly most of the danger but you really have to drive the ball well around this golf course which probably explains why Westwood and Sergio Garcia have accounted for three of the five titles so far.
The iconic hole on this course is the 17th which is similar to the same hole at Sawgrass where it has an island green. In fact here the only way to get to the green is to hop on a boat! Holes 16 and 18 offer plenty of danger too so it is a tough finish this week.
Bubba Watson is a 5/1 favourite this week and I can see why with his length off the tee but a flight from the Bahamas to Thailand can’t be the best preparation and if he is as wayward as he was at times last week he might not have the capability to get back on track so I think he’s worth taking on.
Sergio Garcia won in Vietnam last week and is a 6/1 shot to follow it up in style here but that’s too short for me. Byeong-Hun An continues to trek the globe playing golf and he is 14/1 with it being 18/1 bar that trio.
When it comes to driving the golf ball I rarely sway too far from Kiradech Aphibarnrat and I’m happy enough to take the Thai this week. His length will be a big thing for him but he is already talking up his chances and says having family and friends on the course with him will inspire him to deliver.
I’m happy with that because Kiradech has been in great form for a while now. He’s long enough to clear all the danger here and his putting continues to go from strength to strength as we saw in the Nedbank last week. He has a couple of top 10 finishes around here and with the form and status he now enjoys this could be the week he lifts a home title.
Also whenever we’re in Asia and in need of long hitting I can’t look away from Scott Hend and I’m certainly not going to do that this week. Hend is a seven time winner in Asia including in Macau not too long ago and he should really have won in Thailand much earlier in the year.
Hend was in the top five in decent company last year and that is no surprise because of the way he drives the ball. He is one of the longest in the game and he seems to be able to putt much better in Asia than the rest of the world. Hend’s game always looks good in Asia and this course should suit him perfectly so he looks a big price this week.
I’ll take a couple of dark horses this week too at bigger prices and the first of those is David Lipsky. Lipsky is a former Asian Tour number one so we know he can perform in Asian conditions and this course isn’t a bad fit for him. He isn’t as long as the first two I’ve backed but he’s long enough and from there in the rest of his game is solid.
He doesn’t quite have the consistency of a Thongchai Jaidee yet but he has a similar game to him and if he can keep away from the danger off the tee I would expect the American to put up a bold showing this week.
Finally I’ll take another Thai in the form of Chapchai Nirat. Nirat might not be the longest in the world but he hits a fair amount of greens so if the putts drop he might offer a decent run at a three figure price.
Nirat was second in Indonesia earlier in the year and in the top five in Singapore recently so he can compete on this tour but it is his record here which encourages me to give him a chance.
In the last three years here he has finishes of T11, T8 and T55 but those first two efforts are certainly encouraging and in 2012 he was in the top 10 here in Open qualifying so while it would be stretching it to call him a course specialist he certainly knows his way around here and if more established opponents start to feel a bit jaded after a heavy workload he could take advantage with another decent outing.
Back K.Aphibarnrat to win Thailand Golf Championship (e/w) for a 1.5/10 stake at 19.00 with Bet365 (1/4 1-5)
Back S.Hend to win Thailand Golf Championship (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 51.00 with Stan James (1/4 1-5)
Back D.Lipsky to win Thailand Golf Championship (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 81.00 with Stan James (1/4 1-5)
Back C.Nirat to win Thailand Golf Championship (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 151.00 with Stan James (1/4 1-5)
Nice preview Kev. I am very much on board with you on Scott Hend’s chances.