Backing Big Bubba For Thailand

Bubba Watson and co. take to the field for the Thailand Golf Championship with a huge purse at stake.

The Tournament
The Thailand Golf Championship is only three years old, but is considered the jewel in the crown of the Asian Tour, and has Official World Golf Ranking points at stake, as well as a prize fund of $1 million. The first three editions were won by Charl Schwartzel, Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia, and the antepost betting market this year is once again dominated by a handful of the game’s biggest names.

The Course
Amata Spring Country Club opened in 2005, has already hosted a string of high profile events and is arguably Thailand’s premier course. The venue is dominated by a huge central lake and water is in play on all the holes, most notably the seventeenth, which features an island green accessible only by lake. Otherwise, the course is fairly straightforward, with wide, generous fairways and lush greens.

In The Bunker
Sergio Garcia has had an excellent 2014, but there are signs that his form is slipping as the year comes to an end, and I’ll be opposing him in Thailand this week. He was still going well at the start of November, finishing second at the CIMB Classic, but he followed that with patchy efforts at the HSBC Champions and the Turkish Airlines Open and he spoiled his chances in Dubai with a poor first round. He could bounce back in Thailand, but at odds of 9/2 he doesn’t appeal.

Recommended Bets
Of the five big name players who dominate the antepost betting this week, Bubba Watson is the stand-out.

The double Masters winner has kicked off the 2014-15 PGA season in style, winning the HSBC Champions last month, and is currently the PGA Tour Money List leader.

He returned to action with a respectable effort at the Hero World Challenge last week, finishing just outside the top ten, and after that warm-up should be ready to mount a strong challenge in Thailand. Back him at 13/2.

Ryder Cup hero Victor Dubuisson can be hard to get right, but the signs are good for the Frenchman going into this tournament. He finished way off the pace at the HSBC Champions, but returned to form at the Turkish Airlines Open, breaking into the top twenty with a superb final round 64 and then finished runner up behind Henrik Stenson in Dubai. He could take some stopping this week at odds of 10/1.

If there is to be an Asian winner of this event, Kiradech Aphibarnrat is the likeliest candidate. After earning his breakthrough victory on the European Tour in 2013, the young Thai has had a quiet year, but he heads for home soil having made in the top five at the Nedbank Challenge, his best result for some time. He finished that event strongly and he’s a decent bet at 20/1 this week.