WGC HSBC Champions Preview

In the absence of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy it is Luke Donald who heads the betting for the WGC HSBC Champions event which gets underway this Thursday. This marks the first year that the event has moved to the Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzhen, China. As a punter this makes betting on this event a little trickier as the previous events don’t hold as much relevance. This venue though has played host to three of the last four Omega World Cups with the latest taking place in 2009. The Olazabel course which is being used this week is 7,320 yards long and features five par fives and five par threes. Sand is a heavy feature of this course with 151 bunkers spotted around the 18 holes. The fairways are unforgiving and the greens are below the average size of most courses on the PGA tour.

Luke Donald at 10/1 (general) is a deserved favourite as he is an elite player of sand though a lack of length off the tee means the price is a little short for my liking. His fellow countrymen Justin Rose is a 14/1 (general) chance and is clearly a player in form with four top ten finishes from his last five events. The course should hold no fear as he did well here when partnering Ian Poulter in the 2007 World Cup and Rose ranks high in key categories. Rose is leading the PGA Tour in greens in regulation and seventh in adjusted scoring. He looks like one for the staking plan.

Dustin Johnson is a 20/1 (boylesports) chance for the victory. Johnson is the only golfer that posted top ten finishes in all four FedExCup Playoffs and is the undoubted form player. The American is also one of the longest hitters on the tour as well as ranking high in the key categories of strokes gained putting and adjusted scoring. He looks like another worth siding with. Also at 20/1 are Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott, Louis Oosthuizen and Ian Poulter. I am not so keen on Mickelson and Scott as they have not showed much form recently. I think Poulter and Oosthuizen could be in the mix here though with Rose and Johnson on the staking plan it might pay to find a third golfer at a value price. That player is Jamie Donaldson as the Welshman looks good value at 80/1 (BetVictor/paddy Power). Donaldson was among a Welsh team who finished tied 7th here in the 2009 World Cup. His recent form has been good with three top ten finishes in recent weeks and a tied 16th in the BMW Masters. Take the Welshman EW or to finish in the top ten which is available at 11/2 (bet365). Also look out for the chances of Franceso Molinari who is a 35/1 (bet365) shot. The Italian partnered his brother to victory at this venue in the 2009 World Cup and is playing some solid stuff at the moment.

We mentioned earlier that Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy were absent from this event and that is because the two have elected to play each other in a one-off 18 hole contest in China. At the time of writing though no bookmakers had elected to price up that event.

BEST OF THE BETS

GOLD: Justin Rose EW, 14/1 (general)
SILVER: Dustin Johnson EW, 20/1 (boylesports)
BRONZE: Jamie Donaldson EW, 80/1 (BetVictor/paddy Power), Top Ten 11/2 (bet365)

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01/11/2012     © Frixo 2024