The European Tour will travel from Africa to Malaysia for the inaugural Maybank Championship Malaysia this week. There is a large prize pool enticing a fairly decent lineup of players to make the trip to the Royal Selangor Golf Club in Kuala Lumpur.
Last week, we saw Charl Schwartzel run away with the win as he finished nine strokes ahead of the pack at the Tshwane Open last week. It wasn’t much of a competition but remember that he had a solid history on the course and was playing in front of his home crowd. We’re expecting a much more spirited competition at the Maybank Championship Malaysia this weekend.
Event Details
Event: 2016 Maybank Championship Malaysia
Category: European Tour
Date: February 18-21
Location: Royal Selangor Golf Club, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
A new event at a new golf course is never a good combination when it comes to predicting winners. That said, we do know enough about this course and the golfers that will compete this week to break down some of the best bets.
What To Know About The Course
Built in 1893, the Royal Selangor Golf Club is one of the oldest in Asia. There are two 18-hole courses both old and new and this year’s tournament will be played out on the Old Course, which was the venue for the inaugural Malaysian Open in 1962 as well as the 2002 edition of the event. Based on what we know, driving accuracy will be among the most important factors. The winners of all six editions of the Maybank Malaysian Open were drawn in the morning on day one in big part because the course is at its very best in the morning and that trend should continue at this event.
The Field
There will be a number of locals in the field with experience at this venue, but if we draw from the winners of the Malaysian Open then it’s easy to conclude the winner will likely come from among the betting favorites. The Dubai Desert Classic winner Danny Willett is listed as the betting favorite to win this event outright at +1000 odds with Louis Oosthuizen, Martin Kaymer and Joost Luiten in the mix right behind him with all three of those golfers listed at +1600 odds. It’s never easy to break down a field where the majority of golfers have never played, but we will keep form and driving accuracy in mind when breaking down the best bets.
A Good Matchup To Bet: Louis Oosthuizen over Joost Luiten
Luiten won the Johor Open in Malaysia in 2011, but that was only a 54-hole tournament and is clearly different than what we’re dealing with this weekend. On top of that, he looked terrible in the final round at Dubai. The fact that he has struggled to close on the final day of a couple of tournaments is one reason why we will bet against him this week. He seems to fold as the tournaments come to their climax. The other reason is that Oosthuizen has a solid record at Malaysia including winning the Malaysian open in 2012 following a slow start. Oosthuizen started strong at Dubai before fading and ultimately missing the cut, but we like him to perform at a high level throughout a full four rounds this weekend and finish with a better score than Luiten.
Top-Five Prediction: Danny Willett
Willett is the favorite to win this event outright based in large part on the form that he showed when he won the Dubai Desert Classic. We will hope that he shows a similar form this week with a very good chance he will finish on top if he does. Willett has finished inside the top-six in each of his five previous visits to Malaysia, so you have to love that track record if you’re backing him to either win outright or finish in the top five. There’s decent value on the betting odds for it to happen again, so invest in him this weekend.
Player To Win Maybank Championship Malaysia
Danny Willett +1015
Rafael Cabrera Bello +1550
Joost Luiten +1550
Louis Oosthuizen +1650
Martin Kaymer +1650
Thorbjorn Olesen +2050
Matthew Fitzpatrick +2250
Thomas Pieters +2250
Chris Wood +3050
Thongchai Jaidee +3250
