Golf – China Open. A new venue for yet another Chinese golf tournament. China the new ‘Home of Golf’? The course may be in Beijing but it is very much a modern American style course. Long, flat with lots of water hazards and large undulating greens. The greens are said to be running at 9.6 on the stimp meter which is positively slow compared to Augusta. This is another co-sanctioned event by the European and Asian tours and the field is not the strongest you will see. The European players have generally performed well in China, possibly because the greens are not the heavily grained Bermuda grasses seen in many Asian courses. Local players do not hold any special advantage here. A new venue levels the playing field in terms of the younger players lack of course experience and in a modest field this new, modern, long course could allow one of the up and coming youngsters to rack up a win. 1 point e/w Ross Fisher @ 33/1 with Paddy Power. T56 - lost 2 points Fisher is already a tour winner but is definitely a talented young player on the up. He has a good attitude, is well organized and has set himself realistic targets in his quest to move up the world rankings. He finished a respectable 34th the recent WGC CA Championships, in a field of players that really was of the highest calibre. This is a big step down in class and his experience in America has given him a taste for the big events. He knows that he needs wins to join that elite world top 50 and all the perks that brings. His record in China is good with two top four finishes, including a play off loss to Phil Mickelson last November in the HSBC Champions tournament. He has plenty of length off the tee and a good all round performer rather than a master of any particular part of the game. 1 point e/w Joost Luiten @ 55/1 with Skybet. T14 - lost 2 points Beaten only by Ross Fisher in last years Dutch Open, Luiten is probably a bigger talent than the more experienced Englishman. A good driver of the ball, an excellent iron player (15th for GIR) and a very good putter (24th putts per GIR). He has all the ingredients to make a lot of birdies and he can do just that. Inexperience is the only thing holding him back but wins will come and in a modest field such as this, he has to be considered. 1 point e/w Oliver Fisher @ 30/1 with Stan James. mc - lost 2 points Much was expected from Fisher on his debut year on tour in 2007, but it didn’t really happen. However, it must be remembered that he will not even turn 20 until September and is still one of the brightest young stars of English golf. His putting is still not great but he has started 2008 in good form making every cut, was runner up in Spain three weeks ago and followed that up with 15th in Portugal the following week. He has played in China before (including 13th in the TCL Classic last March) so the surroundings will be no surprise to him. 4 points Scott Strange to beat Simon Khan @ 10/11 with Ladbrokes. won 3.64 points Strange has a vast amount of experience of playing in China and with five top 25 finishes in his last six events in the country, he clearly likes the place. He missed the cut in Korea last month but was 25/2/21 before that and was a good 7th in Abu Dhabi back in January. He is 4-1 up on Khan (+1 tie) this season and his experience should tell once again. Khan was a good 9th in Portugal two weeks ago but the rest of his form this season has been poor and he has never played in mainland China before. |
 |
|
|
Betting Previews
|
||