The action this week heads to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for the fourth edition of the CIMB Classic. This years tournament is being played on the West Course at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club.
This is the first time the course has hosted the event as the last three years it has been played at The Mines Resort and Golf Club.
Nestled amongst a wonderful hilltop setting of lush greenery and gently undulating hills the course is a Par 72, measuring 6,951 yards. The Purse this week is US$7 million with the winner taking home US$1.3 million.
There is a field of 78 players teeing it up this week with no cut this week which will allow you to watch your favourite golfer for the full 4 days. Expect to see low scoring with players enjoying the surroundings. Putting on the greens should not cause to many issues as they will be nice and moist due to the constant humidity that can be expected in Malaysia. This will allow for aggressive play when going for the green.
The Top 5 in betting this week are: 9/1 Phil Mickelson, 12/1 Sergio Garcia, 16/1 Keegan Bradley, 16/1 Hideki Matsuyama and 22/1 Nick Watney.
Also in the field this week are Americans Jimmy Walker, Ryan Moore, Bill Haas and Bo Van Pelt. The internationals are well represented this week with players such as Matt Jones, David Lynn, Shiv Kapur, Martin Laird and Tim Clark teeing it up.
The two players to follow this week are:
Brendon De Jonge 40/1 www.sportsbet.com.au
The big man is ready show the goods this week. He had a very encouraging 2013 season on the PGA Tour making 25 cuts from 30 starts.
Brendon managed thirteen Top 25’s and four Top 10’s. What I like about him is the way he finished the season off. In his last four tournaments he posted results of T19th The Barclays, T9th Deutsche Bank Championship, T18th BMW Championship and T18th Tour Championship.
It is also worth noting that he finished T4th at the CIMB Classic last year on -19, just 3 shots from the winner Nick Watney, so we knock he likes playing in Malaysia.
There is another stat to look at thanks to Rob Bolton from pgatour.com pointing out that the greens at Kuala Lumpur Golf Course are seashore paspalum. These are the same greens as the Puerto Rico Open. When you look at De Jonge’s results there he was T14th in 2013 and T5th in 2012.
Stats wise on the PGA Tour in 2013 Brendon was ranked 29th in driving accuracy, 10th in greens in regulation, 26th in scoring average. 11th in ball striking and 16th in scrambling.
Expect to see him enjoying the conditions this week.
Matt Jones 66/1 www.sportsbet.com.au
This will be Matt’s first start at the CIMB Classic. The Aussie had a good 2013 season the PGA Tour. 24 starts for 18 made cuts. He managed nine Top 25’s and five Top 10’s.
Like De Jonge he had a great finish to the season. Two starts in July saw T2nd Greenbrier Classic and T7th John Deere Classic. Three starts in August had a best result of T5th Wyndham Championship and two starts in September saw a T8th BMW Championship.
At the Puerto Rico Open Jones was T14th in 2013 and T5th in 2012.
The World No.96 finished 2013 ranked 45th in driving accuracy, 47th in birdie average, 29th in scoring average, 30th in ball striking and 8th n scrambling.
Good luck and good punting.
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