Outright plays (1pt):
Thomas Bjorn to win 16/1 e.w. @ Ladbrokes and BlueSq
Siding with three players who play their first event of 2005 in Singapore. Not ideal as rustiness may be an issue, but far better than having played in South Africa last week. Bjorn is simply a player who rediscovered his game at the end of last year with five finishes inside the top-11 in his last six starts and has a great record in this region: 3rd, 2nd, 2nd and 4th in his last four starts in 2004. He may be debuting new clubs this week, but everything else points to a strong week from him.
Arjun Atwal to win 50/1 e.w. @ BetInternet
There is plenty pointing to a good week for Atwal as well. For example, his course form reads 1st (2002) when he won by five shots and 10th (2003). He has finished in the top-10 in five of his last six starts in this region, including two wins - one of which was the co-sanctioned Malaysian Open which he won by four shots from Retief Goosen as a wire-to-wire winner - and finished 6th on the PGA Tour in his penultimate event last year. This looks a generous price for someone with such a good history in these co-sanctioned events.
Barry Lane to win 100/1 e.w. @ BetInternet
Was very tempted by IASBet's 38.5/1 on Damien McGrane to finish in the top-5, but tired after a top-10 finish in South Africa should be too much of a factor. Instead, I'll opt for a player who was also in 2nd place after 36 holes on this course last year. Lane actually went into the final round in the joint lead with Gregory Hanrahan, but faded to finish 5th. With a top-10 finish as well in the China Open at the end of last year, Lane is certainly more competitive than his 100/1 odds suggest. Admittedly, place-only odds would have been preferable, but with only 17/1 at the Expekt the best on offer, the each-way option is adopted here.
