Betting Update; Malaysian Open with the bookmakers making Dougherty their 4/1 favourite

Added: (Fri Mar 07 2008)

Pressbox (Press Release) - Any ardent follower of golf wouldn’t normally include the names of New Zealander Mark Brown and world No.1 Tiger Woods in the same breath.

However, Brown goes into this week’s Maybank Malaysian Open with the opportunity of joining Woods as the only player to win three tournaments in a row in 2008.

Brown, who leads the Asia Order of Merit table, produced a scintillating performance on the back nine to land the Johnnie Walker Classic last week and jumped up the world standings from 332nd spot to 64th. So he’s a man who cannot be ignored at the moment. The main difference this time round for the New Zealand golfer is that the Kota Permai Golf and Country Club (6,979yds) course is totally different from last week’s venue and is very much more in the style of a US Open track. The fairways are fast, firm, fairly narrow and undulating and the rough ankle-deep in some places, while the greens are reckoned to be treacherous. It could prove a very difficult test and the players could be in for a long grind.

One who took an immediate liking to the track was Ireland’s rising star Rory McIllroy who shot a nine-under par 63 in the pro-am, including a hole-in-one. It probably helped that the 18-year-old was having his first day back at the ‘office’ since taking a two-week break on a Caribbean cruise.

Although not too much should be read into that performance of McIllroy’s, he did start the year with a decent 11th in the Abu Dhabi Championship and could carry on the good work this week.

Like Mark Brown, Thonghai Jaidee is also looking for a third success as he bids to add another Malaysian Open title to the two he picked up in 2004 and 2005. He very nearly pulled off the hat-trick in 2006 when runner-up to Charlie Wi and should again be in the firing line as he’s coming into the week after a top-20 in the Dubai Desert Classic, his best result of the year so far.

Prom king

However, it could be the turn of his compatriot from Thailand Prom Meesawat, who is seen by many as Jaidee’s natural successor. He has shown a definite liking for the tournament having now played in it three times and produced form figures of 7-18-6, while over the last three months he has been third in the Cambodian Open at the start of December, eighth in the Volvo Masters of Asia and a couple of weeks ago he was a very promising third in the Indonesian Open.

Arjun Atwal, SSP Chowrasia, Prayad Marksaeng and Jyoti Randhawa are others from the Asian tour that are worth adding to a short-list of possible winners.

For Florida-based Atwal this will be his last tournament for a while in this region of the world as he will be returning to the States to concentrate on the Nationwide tour, so he will be keen to fly off with a victory under his belt. He has fond memories of the tournament having won it in 2003 and that was the spur which led him to try and gain his US card. Chowrasia went from a virtual unknown to gain wider recognition after his win in the Indian Masters but he has not produced goods since then and missed two cuts subsequently.

Marksaeng on mark
After opening with a 74 last week in the Johnnie Walker Classic Marksaeng recovered to finish with a share of ninth place and he has a pretty good history at Kota Permai, where he holds the course record with Simon Yates. He won the Fortis International in company with Jaidee, was third in a World Cup qualifier (with Thaworn Wirachant) and tied for third when the Volvo Masters of Asia was played at the course.

Randhawa won the latter event and was also second in this tournament three years ago so he has good course and tournament form. He’s also been in fairly good shape this year so far with four top-10s to his credit, including a second in the SAIL Open a couple of weeks ago. So he’s knocking on the door and should break his duck for the season in the near future, although it’s a worry that he has failed to press home any advantages when he’s been in good winning positions. Sweden’s Peter Hedblom ended an 11-year drought when he picked up the Malaysian Open title 12 months ago and his chances of retaining his crown looked bright based on his two top-10s in the Middle East swing this term.

Head for Edfors
A better prospect, however, might be his fellow Swede Johan Edfors. Although he never really threatened when he made his one and only start in the event, he does arrive in Kuala Lumpar with a decent fifth in the Johnnie Walker Classic behind him. His final round of 65 was the best of the day and that should give him the confidence to improve on that showing and on his earlier fourth in the Qatar Masters.

Two shots worse than Edfors but three places better was Australian Scott Strange who chased home Mark Brown last week and could be on the verge of scoring a breakthrough win on the European tour in this co-sanctioned tournament. Since the start of the year and his seventh in the Abu Dhabi Championship he has posted 13 out of 18 rounds under par and produced nine rounds in the 60s and currently lies third in the Asian Order of Merit table and is two-time winner on that tour. One of the disappointments of last week’s Johnnie Walker was the final day collapse of Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin who was lying in 10th place before producing a dismal 75 in the fourth round. He had looked to be returning to form when fourth in the Indian Masters previously, which was his best stroke play result since his seventh in the Irish Open in May 2007. If Jacquelin can reproduce the golf he showed in New Delhi than there’s every chance he can improve on his third in the Malaysian Open two years ago and could be worth taking a chance on, particularly at around the 40-1 mark available with most bookies.

• All prices correct at time of writing.

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