Latest News Update About Barclays Singapore Open: If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting! This week, Ian Poulter will look to successfully defend his Barclays Singapore Open title after he became the first winner of it when it was a European Tour event. Despite only being on the Asian Tour for years prior to 2009, its large prize fund has attracted many big name players in the past such as Phil Mickleson, Angel Cabrera, Rory Mcilroy and Padraig Harrington.
Judging from past history, the competition looks to be wide open with top stars and players who struggle to get their tour card doing well. I am going to base a lot of my research on last year's competition and decide from the information I gather what type of players I am looking for. I feel that length will be important this week, as will greens in regulation. Scoring was high last year with ten under winning the event so players who are? perhaps not the greatest of putters might stand a chance this week. After weighing up my options, these are the players I have come up with.
Seung-Yul Noh each way @ 28/1
Noh really is a fantastic golfer. There has been a lot of talk about the future and what players will hold the game together and Noh has been undeservedly overshadowed by players like Rory Mcilroy, Matteo Mannassero, Ryo Ishikawa, Anthony Kim and Rickie Fowler. I say undeserved because Noh is more than able to hold his own against players of this present and potential quality. Noh certainly has the length averaging over three hundred yards in driving distance, reinforcing that he's long enough for any course. As for his GIR stats, he hits 66.83% of greens but despite this not being near the leaders of the European Tour, it is still an impressive stat and one that fits into the description of the player we are looking for. At 28/1, Noh is well worth backing.
Joost Luiten each way @ 50/1
I am absolutely delighted to get such a good player at such high odds. He isn't that long a player, averaging nearly 290 yards off the tee but he is still a good driver of the ball hitting many fairways in regulation but it's his GIR stats that are the most impressive. He hits over 70% of greens which is extremely impressive. The real clincher as to why to pick Joost this week though is his form in the last three events, finishing T2nd, T3rd and T5th. in addition, he may not have won on the European Tour before but he is a two time winner on the Challenge Tour, which is sure to give him some vital experience of how to get over the winning line.
Charl Schwartzel each way @ 22/1
In a gruesome battle for my third tip Schwartzel had to fend off stiff competition from Aussie Adam Scot and defending champion Ian Poulter. The man's long, he's strong and hopefully he's going to get his A-game going. Schwartzel drives the ball nearly 295 yards and hits a good amount of fairways to boot. In terms of GIR, he hits a huge 71.69% of greens and if this wasn't enough of a reason for you to back Charl, then factor into the equation that he has had two wins already on tour this year. A tied sixteenth last week was not something to be sniffed at considering the field that was present. Prior to that, Schwartzel recorded two top tens in three events so his game should be in good form coming into this week. At 22/1 the South African is worth it.
Although not an official tip, I'd just like to mention one other player and that is Richie Ramsay. He hits a lot of GIR and even though he is quite short, he is very accurate and precise. Last week he recorded his biggest ever cheque of over �50,000 by finishing third in the WGC-HSBC Champions. As well as that, he has already won on tour this year. At 80/1, Ramsay is very tempting but just didn't make it into my top 3 this week.
James' View: Some very interesting tips from Ian this week. After the disappointment of last week, I think Graeme McDowell and Martin Kaymer will be back contending this week as the Race of Dubai draws to a close. However, such are their odds, I don't think there is any real value in me recommending them. So, Im going to stick with one of Ians tips, Joost Luiten (50/1) and add another rank outsider to that list, Gareth Maybin at 80/1. I was impressed with his form a few weeks ago in Valderrama and although he finished in nervous fashion, Im hoping the experience might stand him in good stead. At 80/1, he looks grossly overpriced and having not played last week, he should be rested. My third man, and probably my top tip for this week, is Richard Green @ 28/1. Unlike Ian, I think driving accuracy is going to be more important than length and on these Bermuda greens, I am actually looking for decent putters. Green fits the bill nicely and having won recently, confidence and form are a given. It is quite amazing that a talent like Richard Green has not won more often on Tour but perhaps his latest win, despite stumbling over the final few holes, will spur him on to greater things. With odds of 28/1, I think he represents good value and with that being said, he gets my each way bet.
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