Ballentines Championship

[stamina]

The Ballentine's Championship held at the Blackstone golf club for the second time is going to be a true test for most as the course has had some changes since its inception in 2011. The 4th has the option to be driveable and the 17th is 40 yards longer,players do face a dramatic drop from the tee to the fairway.

David williams said ( taken from the European tour website)“The whole course will provide a tough challenge for the field. It’s long, but it’s not all about power and long hitting; it’s a thinking player’s course. It’s also very scenic with fantastic views, creeks, lakes and forest glens.

“There are a couple of excellent par threes which are long and over water – the seventh and the 12th holes. It’s a young course as it only opened a couple of years ago, and every year it will mature and get even better.

“It’s hilly so it will be physically demanding as well, and the greens are undulating and offer some testing pin positions.

Its a par 72 and is 7275 yards that includes 4 par 5's one is which 619 yards long.

The weather forecast looks to be heavy rainfall on wednesday followed by sunshine the remainder of the week

One website stated that the course is reminiscent to that of Gleneagles

Last years winner Lee westwood who won last week in Indonesia is 39 today won this with a total of 276 just one ahead of Jiminez

[mercer]

Damien Mcgrane 80/1 E/W

Damien Mcgrane is a very good player and no doubt will win soon on tour and looks massive here Conditions can be tough here in China and be prepared for the worst but Damien Mcgrane does play well with wind and more so hoping for a bit of strange weather Damien Mcgrane should have won in Morocco but his time will come Mcgrane has won on tour before and came back in 2008 and came in China when winning the China Open Mcgrane has been in consistent form and posted three top 25 placings in his last three events Mcgrane played well here last year when 13th but was leading after the first round

Marcus Fraser 40/1 E/W

Marcus Fraser is a very good player and should be winning events instead of so many near misses Been in good form and often very consistent and has four top 25 placings in his last six events Can Fraser win this event like he did two years ago and showed last week in China he is in form when sixth Putting is crucial around here and Marcus Fraser is a very good putter and expect another good performance here Finished 27th last year but comes here in better form

Paul Casey 40/1 E/W

Paul Casey is confident of a good showing this week and is happy with his game I backed Casey last week and played very well in the first round and was three under but blew it with a awful second round but showed glimpses form is coming back plus missing the cut meant he has had more time to prepare for this so not a bad thing Casey must have a cracking chance this week in this field and wont be long before he adds another win to his career victories Had many injuries over the years and dropped down to 45 in the world but is still some player"

[Micko70]

Ian Poulter EW @ 14/1
Ian Poulter like Jimenez has played the weekend in every tournament this year, he was 7th at Augusta and 3rd only 2 weeks earlier.

He finished 29th in the China Open but did shoot a 4th round 66 which was his best round of the week by a long way.

He failed to make the weekend here last year after 2 poor rounds but put that to 1 side with victory in the World Matchplay only 3 weeks later.

He could be coming into form again at just the right time after his 66 in China, and will want a good showing here in preparation for the defence of his Matchplay title next month.

Miguel Angel Jimenez EW @ 25/1
Miguel Angel Jimenez finished 2nd here last year, he came to this event after finishing in 27th place in the Masters last year after a short break.

This year he finished 56th in the Masters but was primed for a top 10 finish if not for his final 2 rounds of 76 & 81 and like last year has had a short break before coming here.

Miguel has made the weekend in every tournament this year so i am pretty confident he will do it again this week, especially after his fine 2nd place last year with a score of 11 under par.

He hasn't won since 2010 but did have 5 top 10 finishes including 3 runner up spots

[stamina]

Damien McGrane agreed with Mercer on this selection. His last 3 events played 23rd-2nd-20th Obviously playing well and to back him with a 13th on this course last year.he's like this part of the world, won his only event in Asia at the Volvo china open by a whopping 9 strokes in 2008, though we are in seoul Korea this week I am still to fathom out why is odds are 80/1, Has the bookies made a mistake, only time will tell

Robert Jan Derksen 13th last year at Blackstone plus a 6th and a 4th at the Pinx golf club says he loves it here, Derksen come here in good form with a 18th at the Volvo China open. in his last 3 events this year he has been inside the top 20 twice. Think his odds are very good value though last win on this tour was way back in 2005.

Gareth Maybin 64th last week but that was after a rest and now that he has 4 rounds under his belt he can carry on that momentum knowing that he has a good record in this part of the world. 13th last year on this course and 2nd in 2010 at the Pinx Golf club. Has yet to win on the main tour but did win the Qingdao Golf Open in China which is just across the east China sea from Seoul, Horses for courses so to speak.

Good luck

[carterbet]

Soren Kjeldsen - running into decent form over the last few tournaments, and has history on undulating courses such as Valderrama. 8 top 25 finishes in the last 4 yeasr in ASIA and if he can get the putter warm, has a real chance. 40/1

Marcus Fraser - in good form with a top 10 last week, loves playing in ASIA and has won this tournament before. 50/1

RJ Derksen - decent week last week in China and has good form here too. Has 7 top 25 finishes in ASIA in last 4 years and can pop up on leaderboards from nowhere. 80/1

G Maybin - good player but hasn't kicked on for a first win yet. Has been close a couple of times, and some form this year with an 11th in Sicily. Has 7 top 25 finished in ASIA in the last 4 years and has a couple of good finishes here including a runner up position in 2010 (was t13 last year). 80/1

B Rumford - great record here and coming into form with a decent finish last week. Excellent short game. 66/1

Good luck all

[jimmywomble]

Hi all

The European Tour stays in Asia and moves to Korea for the Ballantines from the Blackstone GC in Incheon. This will be the 5th version of the event, but only the 2nd at Blackstone. Winner last year on his way to becoming World No 1 was Lee Westwood.

A short list of 6 for me at the moment, although strangely for me 3 are making their debut here and another missed the cut last year. Fave for the event is Adam Scott who makes his debut here. 8th at the Masters, & 13th at the WGC Cadillac shows some good form, although not sure 8-1 is good value.

Also making their debut here are George Coetzee & Soren Kjeldsen. Coetzee is another young South African with a big drive. He was 4th last week in China, bouncing back from a missed cut in Malaysia, also had a 5th & 6th in Dubai & Abu Dhabi. Had a breakthrough year last year with 8 top ten's and a win on his native Sunshine Tour. Whilst Kjeldsen continues to show the form that suggests his game is good again, although after 5th in Dubai & 3rd in Sicily he has dropped off a little with 16th in Malaysia & 29th last week. Lol just noticed an error on my spreadsheet as I had Soren with an "o" not one of those fancy Danish "o's" with a line through it and so I missed that he did play last year and was 13th.

Missing the cut here last year was Sang-Moon Bae a player several of us have had their eye on in the US. He did only miss the cut by a shot after two 73's last year. A losing Quarter finalist at the Matchplay and 2nd at the Transitions are his best results this year, 37th at the Masters before withdrawing from the RBC Heritage.

The two who played last year are another Korean and South African Kyung-Tae Kim & Jbe Kruger. Kim started the year slowly in the US, with 51st at the Cadillac the best. Played the last couple of weeks in Japan though and moved back towards the top of the leaderboard with 26th & 9th last week. Kruger grabbed his first win with the Avantha Masters in India, and so leads the Asian Tour. He was 18th last week, and 11th the week before that, and improvement on 42nd & 33rd in the events before that. Both the players had a top 10 last year with Kruger slightly better with 7th, after opening with a poor 73, whilst Kim only broke 70 on day 1 & was 10th a shot behind Kruger.

Not sure then who I'm going to go with. Kim was my first choice, but now slightly put off by his poor form in the US against better fields, which this is going to be as well. Kruger has played well in Asia for the last couple of years, has struggled when in the lead but I think will have learnt a lot from his Avantha win and so he will be my pick.

Cheers

Jimmy
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[lanshan75]

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[gecko6]

agree with the mcgrane shout - does look over-priced at 80 indeed

superb course and should be a tough test - like this event and there looks to be some standout prices here altho such a hard tour to call

not interested in scott at his price and couple near the top of the market are no value... expect a decent show from the korean players but the odds take that into account maybe too much already

anyway,

McGRANE > 80 is generous indeed for mcgrane who should enjoy this course and also any inclement weather as that massive victory in the storms a few yrs ago in this part of the world lingers on; finding some good form and expect him to go well - would back him at near half this price so happy indeed with 80 (13th here last yr)

DERKSEN > 85 on b/f and that's good enough for this guy who seems to really enjoy playing in asia and often appears from nowhere to do well - top 20 last wk and good chance at highish odds here, 13th here last yr also

FISHER > 90 on b/f looks interesting; not sure what his plans are as he didnt play much at all until the masters which was strange but still played ok there - his great tee to green game should mean he finds enough birdie opps here as it's a tough course for anyone wayward; risky bet as bit of unknown factor with so little golf be he was a consistently good player a couple of yrs back and may be worth a dabble - MC last wk with 71/72 but good warm-up for this one perhaps

DUBUISSON > young french lad hits it long and is in good form with an excellent consistent effort last wk (all four rounds in the 60s), has potential to be a decent player indeed and if he can continue that good run then he is worth an interest this wk at 55

final pick was between Kruger, Lowry, Noren, Coetzee and Olesen all of whom I have backed in recent times - might watch them all and see if I can get better price early in the event

trading-wise > expecting a good home show so have dabbled on j-k mo, s-h park, s-s hong, d-h kim all at around 3-400 and looking for quick drop and out

good luck folks

[aubreyhoney]

hi all.
i had to have a punt in this event this week when i saw ALEXANDER NOREN @33/1, he was 6th last week & 5th last year. he seems to be now hitting form so hopefully will go close this week.
i 'm slightly embarrassed to say i've had a little bit on ADAM SCOTT this week, when i saw that 4 of his 8 european victories had come in asia & he also came 8th at the masters * was 13 at blue monster, i simply could not punt him.
good luck all

[robert611]

David Drysdale 150/1 consistant player whos been playing half decent golf for a number of weeks without managing to break into the place money i hate the european tour so just one hopeful Each Way pick Good luck all

[dleiper]

Hello Folks,
My e/w picks for the Ballantines are,

Jbe Kruger and Alexander Noren- reasoning for both are because they seem to be in pretty decent knick just now and both finished in the top ten here last year.

Kyung Tae- Kim- T10th here last year and finished t9th last week in the Tsuruya Open on the Japan Golf Tour.Maybe in with a shout?

Bernd Wiesberger- the big Austrian finished T7th last week in the CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters which Lee Westwood won. Also noticed he was beaten in a play off last year at Gleneagles at the Johnnie Walker championship. So I'm hoping he likes this course. Also had a couple of top tens last year at the Austrian and Irish opens and a t9th at the beginning of this year.

George Coetzee - Must be due a win some time soon. Has been knocking at the door for a while and maybe seeing Branden Grace winning again last week will spurr him on. Was another who was beaten in the same play-off as Wiesberger at gleneagles last year. T4th at the Volvo China Open last week.

ok better sign this off coz I've just noticed this has actually just started Time difference!!

Good luck all,
dave