The beginning of the European’s Tour’s “Asian Swing” begins this week with the Maybank Malaysian Open. Surprisingly, the golf tournament has a stronger lineup than it’s PGA Tour counterpart Texas Open. Neither stack up to last week’s Masters, but we will see Charl Schwartzel, Rory McIlroy and World No. 1 Martin Kaymer back in action in Malaysia.
PGA Championship winner Kaymer missed the cut at Augusta for his fourth straight year so he should be well rested this week. However, the German has only one to 10 finish in six events this year.
McIlroy was primed for Masters greatness heading into the last day four shots ahead of the pack, but a final round of 80 set him back to 15th. He’s hard to back after the choke last week but the Northern Irishman has three top 10 finishes in seven events this year.
Schwartzel got his first major title with the Masters thanks to McIlroy’s downfall. The Joburg Open winner plays better at home in South Africa, but he has five top 25 finishes on the European Tour this season, including three top 10 results.
Next in the odds is Louis Oosthuizen. The British Open and Africa Open champion missed the cut at Augusta, but could make a run against the top three at Malaysia. Thongchai Jaidee returns after sitting out two months with a back injury. The two-time Malaysian Open winner from 2004-2005 has good value.
Defending Malaysian Open champion Seung-Yul Noh has the same odds as Jaidee, but has only one top 10 finish in six appearances in 2011. Instead, take a look at Rhys Davies. The Welshman was the runner-up at the Trophee Hassan II and tied for third in the 2010 Malaysian Open. He had a good record on the Asian Swing last year and finished 18th in the Race to Dubai rankings.
Maybank Malaysian Open Outright Odds (provided by Ladbrokes)
Martin Kaymer: 8/1
Rory McIlroy: 10/1
Charl Schwartzel: 12/1
Louis Oosthuizen: 16/1
Seung-Yul Noh: 20/1
Thongchai Jaidee: 20/1
Raphael Jackquelin: 25/1
Rhys Davies: 25/1
Matteo Manassero: 25/1
Soren Hansen: 33/1
David Horsey: 40/1
Rafael Cabrera-Bello: 40/1
Joost Luiten: 40/1
Johan Edfors: 40/1
Tetsuji Hiratsuka: 40/1
Danny Willett: 40/1
Simon Dyson: 40/1
Wen-Chong Liang: 50/1
Jamie Donaldson: 50/1
James Kingston: 50/1
Gregory Bourdy: 50/1
Jaco Van Zyl: 50/1
Alexander Noren: 50/1