Six golfers catch the eye of Niall Lyons as the European Tour heads to Malaysia.
We make the trip to Malaysia once again and the Saujana G&CC for the third year running for the Maybank Championship. After last week the field strength is increased somewhat and plenty of in-form golfers make the trip to the hot and sweaty venue. A tree-lined track that requires a deal of accuracy but more importantly a great short game to deal with the problems around the small greens when you inevitably miss a handful. Scrambling and putting has seemed to sort this field out in the last few editions and I'd expect this year to be no different. It is a relatively short track which will yield a lot of birdies. Greens to get bumpy here and it is worth noting that 8 out of the top 10 last year had early tee times and fresh green son the Thursday morning. It may put to concentrate on that side of the draw.
An uneasy Thomas Pieters heads the market and has ultimately disappointed in weak fields lately hence we see an opening show of around 14/1. Just what the Belgian will go on to achieve in his career is anyone's guess and maybe he is best left at least until in running to see how he starts. A host of others in behind have a fair amount of good form lately and it is a task to choose between them all.
MAX KIEFFER (best price 50-1) lies 14th in the scrambling stats which look to be important for this week and remains slightly overpriced in my view to land his first European Tour title. He didn't do an awful lot wrong in defeat in Oman a few weeks ago missing out to an inspired Kurt Kitayama who continues to flourish on those coastal tracks. The German finished 11th here in 2018 and arrives this term in much better form. The Oman finish was backed up with a top 15 in Qatar to further boost his chances here. Even towards the end of 2018, there were signs with a top 5 at the very tough Valderrama course in Spain. That too, like Hong Kong is a tree-lined track that rewards a neat tee to green game. With the greens quite small here Kieffer may hold a few aces with his short game lately.
1.5pt each-way M.Kieffer 50/1 (1/5 7)
JASON SCRIVENER (best price 40-1) is putting together a very solid season to date and given he finished 3rd in Hong Kong, a course which translates kindly to Saujana he must be in our staking plan. The Aussie has still to get off the mark on the big tour but with his talent it shouldn't be so long before we see him do so. A 6th placed finish followed his Hong Kong effort and backed that up with a top 20 in Abu Dhabi and a 7th spot in the Dubai Desert.
These were higher quality fields than what we see this week and again guys like this should have their pecker up to seize these opportunities. In the last number of weeks we have seen a right few wobbles towards the top, with Migliozzi being the exception last week and there's no doubt a lot of players of this calibre find it difficult to win. Scrivener is playing well though and the early tee time Thursday might help.
1.5pts each-way J.Scrivener 40/1 (1/5 6)
A few weeks ago I selected GAGANJEET BHULLAR (best price 50-1) and his performance then and again last week suggests to me that he is worth a punt whilst on this impressive run. He has a total of seven top 10s in the past year including of course that win in Fiji. He certainly is an improving sort and seems to have found his feet on the big tour in the last few months.
He hasn't been outside the top 40 in six events in this calendar year and doesn't look far off a win. Again, when the fields are weak these events represent fair opportunities to get over the line. He has a multitude of victories in Asia to call upon when in contention and the move to Malaysia may just prove the tonic he needs to notch a first European Tour victory.
1.25pts each-way G.Bhullar 50/1 (1/5 6)
It's hard to get away from the chances of Jorge Campillo this wee given he has a top 10 in Hong Kong and a runner up spot here last year. It is difficult to get behind a maiden at such odds though and Fox probably looks the better option of the two given he got off the mark a few weeks ago and played well here last year also. I think an ounce of value lies elsewhere though in the shape of CHRIS PAISLEY (best price 50-1). Paisley had a difficult Summer in 2018 having won early doors in South Africa.
A stream of missed cuts made it a miserable time before he tried his hand at the web.com tour towards the end of the year. The top ten in the web.com tour championship seemed to get his confidence back and a solid run of results have followed. 24th in Saudi was backed up by a top 10 in Oman and the englishman may not be far off the form that saw him win last year. 27th and 41st here the past two years are decent efforts and I hope he can out play his odds of 50/1.
1pt each-way C.Paisley 50/1 (1/5 6)
I think it would be foolish to ignore the chances of the defending champion SHUBHANKAR SHARMA (best price 55-1) here and I just have to invest a few quid here. Sharma is an inconsistent sort but there's no doubt he performs better on these shores. He won here last year with finishes of 61st and 48th preceding that victory. Late last year having posted finishes of MC-MC-MC-42-MC he fired a top ten finish in the high class CIMB Classic in Kuala Lumpur. Truth be told a run of bad form can not rule him out of contending in these parts and given he shot a final round 62 here last year to win he must have the capability of going quite well once again.
1pt each-way S.Sharma 55/1 (1/5 6)
ANDY SULLIVAN (best price 50-1) doesn't get the early tee time I wanted but having only finished 3 shots behind the winner in Qatar last time out he could be a sleeper in the pack here. We know that Sullivan at his best would be better than 90% of this field but it has been a long time between beverages for the englishman and form shown previous to the Qatar Masters was average at best. He is a fine master of bermuda greens though and may just have hit upon something last time out.
0.75pt each-way A.Sullivan 40/1 (1/5 7)
