Asian PGA

Carlsberg Malaysian Open

After two weeks in South Africa and two weeks in Australia, the 'Anywhere but the United States' Tour moves on to two weeks in Asia. Next stop will be two weeks in the Middle East, followed by two weeks in South America, just before the Masters! Travel costs can be a hefty burden on the European Tour. This is the third time that this event has been co-sanctioned by the European and Asian PGA Tours and the second time in that spell that Saujana has hosted this event.

Nicknamed the 'Cobra', the fairways wind through the oil palm plantation with a heavy emphasis on driving accuracy rather than length as the course compatibility stats show from the 1999 event. Just as important will be the capacity to cope with the extreme humidity - evidence of good performances under these conditions is necessary.

The three outright picks are Vijay Singh, Padraig Harrington and Joachim Haeggman. Despite the very low odds, Singh is irresistible this week. He has not played in this event recently, but did win on the Asian PGA Tour last year in the Taiwan Open. He is twice a winner in Malaysia, including the 1992 Malaysian Open and his maiden international victory, the 1984 Malaysian PGA Championship. He started his pro career as a club pro in East Malaysia, his caddie this week is the club pro so he will not want for good advice and he has a Malaysian wife - it is a surprise that he has not played in this event in more recent times. Coming off some good performances on the PGA Tour, he is in a different class to the rest of the field and his local connections only cement his selection.

Second choice is Padraig Harrington who has a very impressive record in this event. He has finished 4th and 2nd in the last years - the climate is obviously not a problem. His game looked good enough in the Matchplay and he decided to rest and maintain freshness for this renewed start of the golfing calendar rather than continue to play in Australia. Barring a little rustiness, his game and his record in Malaysia point to another good week from the Irishman.

The third choice is Joachim Haeggman who does come off two weeks in Australia in which he has improved and bar a poor 3rd round could have secured a top-10 finish at the Greg Norman event last week. His record in this country is very good - he won the 1994 Malaysian Open and while he didn't play two years ago he was a creditable 16th last year though it was only a disastrous 3rd round that deprived him the chance of victory. At three-figure odds, he looks very good value.

Outright plays:

Vijay Singh to win 9/2 @ BetSmart or Simon Bold

Padraig Harrington to win 10/1 e.w. @ Victor Chandler

Joachim Haeggman to win 100/1 e.w. @ Victor Chandler

72-hole plays:

Vijay Singh to beat Michael Campbell -120 @ Surrey
Campbell has proved he is a world-class player and as such his missed cut last week cannot be ignored, but he will be hard pressed to beat Vijay any week and given the Malaysian connections, there is really no reason why the Kiwi can compete with him at all this particular week

Anders Hansen to beat Nic Henning -110 @ Surrey [3 units]
Henning may have come off two good finishes in South Africa, but playing in Malaysia will be very different. He has no record of having played in this event and in his only foray onto the Asian PGA Tour in recent years - the Macau Open last year - he missed the cut by quite a margin. Henning has not traveled well to other Tours either. One appearance on the Japan Tour and one missed cut; sixteen appearances on the European or European Challenge Tour and eleven missed cuts or 1st round withdrawals! In contrast, Hansen finished 21st on this course two years ago and his accurate rather than lengthy game is well-suited this week

Tjaart van der Walt to beat Nic Henning -111 @ Ladbrokes [3 units]
No record of playing on the Asian PGA Tour for van der Walt, but he has played much more successfully in Europe than Henning and has a successful Buy.com campaign last year which included a 2nd place finish in the Greater Cleveland Open. His statistics from that Tour suggest accuracy is the strongest part of his game and coming off a 2nd place finish in the Dimension Data pro-am, looks one to side with against a poor traveler.

Update:

For the 3rd day in three, the day is curtailed by thunderstorms and the round is not completed on time. So there are no betting opportunities in-running   Good news on the plays this week though. Two of the three 72-hole plays are decided at the cut when Henning is one shot too many to continue into the weekend. Hansen wins by six and van der Walt by one, so a nice double on the 3-unit plays. In the other match, Singh leads Campbell by one after 10 holes of the 3rd round when play was abandoned for the day.

Situation also looking favorable in the outrights. Harrington leads the event by one from Singh, while the other pick did make the cut, but lies in mid-table.

Final update: 3-0-0 and +7.00 units

Vijay Singh completed the sweep when he won the event and beat Michael Campbell who was disappointing over the weekend. The margin of victory was six shots.

Update on outright plays: 2-1 and +4.25 units

Vijay Singh defeated Padraig Harrington on the 3rd hole of a playoff to complete and 1st-2nd finish for the outright plays. Haeggman may have finished back in 51st position, but still a great way to start the Asian PGA leg of the European Tour. Roll on Singapore next week