Malaysian Open

[Stanley]

Malaysian Open

Course: Royal Selangor Golf Club, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Par: 72

Weather Forecast

Past Winners:
2001 - Vijay Singh
2000 - Wei Tze Yeh
1999 - Gerry Norquist
1994 - Joakim Heaggman
1993 - Gerry Norquist
1992 - Vijay Singh

 

[Clive]

Was tempted to side with Atwal again this week, but he has never played here.

Asian Tour heavyweights did little wrong last week so they must be included. The 50 Wi with Ladbrokes will not last as he's been selected by the Life over here. Sporting Odds were 40 Jaidee yesterday (thank you very much), but 33 is the best now.

And one for the speculative; Lian-Wei Xhange - 125 Hills....played well in EMC qualifier here last year, and was respectable last week.

 

[Monarch]

This event looks pretty scary. Would love to be brave and lay some cash on Harrington but just don't feel this early in the season is a time to be getting carried away.

Clive, I agree, Jaidee and Wi look good value at those odds in reflection to the strength of the overall field.

Others I'm thinking of considering - A Hansen 50/1 (Spodds) - productive golf the last few weeks and has the ability to win in a field like this. Other than that I think I might wait for Dubai to arrive before fully immersing myself back into the European Tour.

 

[bettingmad]

Going to try Arjun Atwal at 40/1 Eurobet
Missed the boat with him last week when on Jaidee - but has to be included this week at the price. If this were a horse-race he would be carrying a penalty for his easy 5 shot win. I also like his late then early tee-times.

 

[Stanley]

Outright plays:

Padraig Harrington to win 9/1 @ TattsBet or Stan James
A simply great record in South-East Asia. 2nd in this event two years ago, 2nd in this event last year and 5th in the Singapore Masters last year on his three starts in this part of the world in the last two years. True, he has failed to win here as elsewhere - he missed a 10-foot putt last year to win when Vijay virtually handed the title to win by driving out-of-bounds on the 71st hole - but this is a much weaker field than he is accustomed to. Padraig to win ... at last!

Nick Faldo to win 25/1 e.w. @ BetInternet or Victor Chandler
Wins have been even rarer for Faldo in recent years, but three top-10 finishes in three starts this year cannot be ignored and in much stronger company. Harrington or Faldo to win ... let's see if the times are a-changing!

Desvonde Botes to place [top-4] 40/1 @ Centrebet
Would have liked the comfort of a 5th place option, but 160/1 to win are far in excess of those elsewhere, so to place only seems the best option for a player who has not won on the European Tour, though did top the 2000 Q-school. Current form may be dreadful, though he didn't play in Singapore last week and there are reasons to expect a marked improvement in form in this climate. In five starts on Davidoff Tour-sanctioned events, he can boast a runners-up spot in the Singapore Open in 2000 and a 7th place finish in this event last year.

 

[steved]

Small stakes on Ter Chang Wang for me. 6th last year..Was he in the Chinese team that played in World Cup on this course a few years back?

 

[Stanley]

72-hole plays:

Thomas Levet to beat Andrew Coltart -110 @ Surrey
Coltart is not a regular on these Davidoff Tour co-sanctioned events and this may well be preparation for next week's Dubai Desert Classic. Levet, on the other hand, comes off a top-10 finish in the ANZ Championship and finished in the top-20 in the Asian Open and Hong Kong Open at the end of last year.

Thomas Levet to beat Nick Dougherty -111 @ BetInternet [2 units]
A difficult introduction to the humidity of the region for the young Englishman last week as he missed the cut with rounds of 69-77 in Singapore. Should improve, but not enough to be as competitive as Levet.

Nick Faldo to beat Ricardo Gonzalez -111 @ Easybets [2 units]
Backing the rejuvenated Faldo in match bets as well. Gonzalez finished well back of Faldo in 26th last week in his debut in the region and can see no reason why this week should be any different on this tight, tree-lined course.

Nick Faldo to beat Eduardo Romero -110 @ Bet365 [2 units]
El Gato was a closer 10th place to Faldo last week, but like Gonzalez, he is not a regular on this leg of the European Tour and Faldo's form just seems to be more solid at this stage of the season.

 

[Monarch]

After watching Euro Tour Weekly and seeing the various faces on the practice tee have convinced myself to take one and a half units on Harrington to win at 8/1. Hope is strong play in Asia finally brings him a well deserved victory.

 

[steved]

Harrington struggling, probably in afternoon heat. He quotes that he will win on Teletext, then he qualifies this by saying his game is nowhere near what he would like it to be.....
Earlyish tee-time tomorrow, so if he can limit damage today it might be worth stepping in if you can get double figures.
You need double figures to offset the Padraig factor.....

 

[bettingmad]

Back to the drawing board after just the first round.... Atwal must have over celebrated after last week

Fancy an early tee time tomorrow... and considered MA Martin 66/1 Hills, Jacquelin 33/1 Hills, Moseley 33/1 Tote & Garrido 33/1 Tote. However, have gone for the biggest price, it's a while since Anders Forsbrand managed one of his 6 European tour wins but he is handily placed at -4 with 6 holes still to play including a par 5. He has a bogey free card and obviously a morning tee time when he completes the first round (Couple of birdies would be nice!).... 80/1 at Sportingodds.

 

[steved]

going in for Padraig now..16/1 available..e/w of course..
tee times tomorrow put back 45 minutes to let players finish..so early still faiirly early..

 

[bettingmad]

Think that' a new record for me... a player with 10 bogies in a round... well done Forsbrand ... and MA Martin tops the board!

 

[steved]

The best way to back Padraig..Take 17/1 at Betfair, and lay off at 8/1 the next day..Gave away half possible profit, but already in front on him...so now win/win!
Thanks to Stanley for initial pointer..I did not like single figures though!

 

[Stanley]

Mid-point update:

Levet/Coltart All Square
Levet/Dougherty WON by 9
Faldo/Gonzalez LOST by 13
Faldo/Romero LOST by 9

Harrington 20th
Faldo mc
Botes 31st

Very disappointing 79 in the 2nd round from Faldo to fall from 14th overnight to missing the cut :nooo: That scuppered three plays. Harrington is just about in contention and if Botes is to make the event a profitable one, he will have to improve on his 25% driving accuracy so far this week.

 

[Monarch]

Played Harrington in his 3 ball yesterday. Will reinvest once again.

3rd Rd 3 ball:

HARRINGTON /Haeggman/Terblanche 10/11 @ Spodds. 1 unit.

Does anyone think there maybe any value in the 33/1 available for the outright play? 9 back 36 to go. 61 putts 1st 2 days, seems very high. If he gets it rolling, who knows in this field.

 

[steved]

envious of the 33/1 Padraig! Would have been good e/w 1st 4. Still may just sqeeze in. Forsyth has 'bottle' by name in Elliott's Golf Form for last year (did not buy this year) so may wobble. That makes Padraig 4 off lead, with some rusty players in front (Cejka, Garrido) and a possible wobbler at the top.
I do not think Leaney will wobble though, so he would be pick for to hang in there on last day.

 

[Monarch]

Padraigs stats are improving daily. I still feel his putter is yet to get hot and should make a final charge today. Will therefore go for the hat-trick and play:

Final Rd 3 Ball:

HARRINGTON /Woosnam/Kang EVENS @ Hills. 1 unit.

 

[bettingmad]

Not my favourite event.... but it isn't over yet!
Atwal & Forsbrand played like hackers and it would be particularly annoying to see Martin or Garrido win as they were narrowly discarded at 66/1 and 33/1.... the final kiss of death to recover the small stakes lost so far goes to Stephen Leaney. He has 4 top 10's in his last 6 outings including one last week in Singapore. I like the fact that he made the final 3 ball to apply a bit of pressure to winless Forsyth.... 11/2 1/5 1-2-3 at bet365 seems reasonable.. as low as 3/1 Victor Chandler.

 

[steved]

well done to Forsyth, it is not nice to see bottlers 'bottle' even when one benefits from it..that is one monkey off his back...

 

[bettingmad]

Steved,
I must be more mercenary than you.... I love to see bottlers bottle if I can profit from it.... would have liked to have seen it happen here as well.

Forsyth did well to fight back, at least he was someone I could never have backed - so ends a tourney with only a small loss that could have been a lot worse considering the winner.

A boring week all round with no bet in the Genuity - but I have a strong fancy in the Honda next week. What price you expecting for Ernie Els in Dubai next week....? I'll say 7/1 ....