There is no offseason for the European Tour as the 2019 campaign tees off in China just four days after Danny Willett’s win at the DP World Tour Championship where Francesco Molinari was crowned the Race to Dubai winner to conclude the 2018 season. The first stop on the 48-torunament schedule is the Honma Hong Kong Open, which is contested at the Hong Kong Golf Club from Nov. 22 through Nov. 25. Not considered a top-class event, the Open is bolstered by the likes of Patrick Reed, Tommy Fleetwood and Sergio Garcia, who sit at the top of the odds board at BookMaker.eu.
Honma Hong Kong Open Matchup Odds
Ashley Chesters -115 vs. Victor Dubuisson -115
John Catlin -132 vs. J Janewattananond +102
Edoardo Molinari -115 vs. JB Hansen -115
David Lipsky -145 vs. Angelo Que +115
Alejandro Canizares -115 vs. Ricardo Gouveia -115
Victor Perez -115 vs. Fabrizio Zanotti -115
Paul Peterson +105 vs. Sanghyun Park -135
Sihwan Kim -105 vs. Justin Harding -125
Wade Ormsby -125 vs. Marcus Fraser -105
Patrick Reed -115 vs. Sergio Garcia -115
Aaron Rai -135 vs. Gonzalo Fdez-Castano +105
Matthew Southgate -115 vs. Nicolas Colsaerts -115
Marcus Kinhult -120 vs. Shubhankar Sharma -110
Nacho Elvira -115 vs. Thomas Aiken -115
Rafael Cabrera Bello -160 vs. Matthew Fitzpatrick +127
Tommy Fleetwood -120 vs. Sergio Garcia -110
Miguel Angel Jimenez -105 vs. Sean Crocker -125
Sam Horsfield -115 vs. Matthias Schwab -115
Adri Arnaus +110 vs. Jeunghun Wang -140
Jason Scrivener -138 vs. Shubhankar Sharma +108
Matthew Fitzpatrick -126 vs. Lucas Bjerregaard -104
Rafael Cabrera Bello -155 vs. Lucas Bjerregaard +124
Marcus Kinhult -102 vs. Jason Scrivener -128
Masahiro Kawamura -150 vs. Jack Singh Brar +120
Patrick Reed -115 vs. Tommy Fleetwood -115
Need to Know
The layout at Fanling is short, negating any advantage the big hitters might have. But that doesn’t mean it’s an easy course to play. There are some of the tightest, tree-lined fairways you’ll find on the Tour and four of the past five winners have scored between 11-under and 14 under, so there is proof. This is a plotters course and accuracy off the tee is definitely rewarded, and with six doglegs placement becomes even more important. How important? The last five tournament champions all were in the top-10 for greens in regulation.
Honma Hong Kong Open Matchup Picks
Lucas Bjerregaard -104 vs. Matthew Fitzpatrick
Fitz comes in on a good run of form and his results at correlated course Crans-sur-Sierre stress the point. But he’s lacking that something to make him a champion. And with Bjerregaard being one of the hottest players on the circuit, it’s hard to overlook him. Over the last 20 starts of the season he won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship with a -15 and placed among the top-10 in nine others to finish 13th in the Race to Dubai. Bjerregaard is no stranger to Fanling with a T24 in his 2013 debut followed by a fifth-place finish in 2014. In his last visit here in 2015 he was runner-up by one swing to Justin Rose.
Wade Ormsby -125 vs. Marcus Fraser
The two are longshots to win the event, but if history has a way of repeating itself Ormsby is worth the wager. Ormsby was 0-263 when he teed off here 12 months ago and he came away with a 1-shot victory for his first title. That propelled him to his finest season as a pro, capped by finishing 48th in the Race to Dubai. Ormsby is not a big hitter, but he hits the ball straight and that is what’s needed to be successful. Ormsby has had good showings at Fangling in the past with a T8 in 2013 and T25 in 2016, and he’s a confident player here. “It’s a golf course that suits my game, so it’s nice to come back to a place where you feel you can contend.”
Patrick Reed -115 vs. Tommy Fleetwood
Two of the favorites will duel in this matchup and I have to wonder if Fleetwood is over-exerting himself after a busy summer. When interviewed after the DP World Tour Championship he looked gassed. But he wouldn’t play if he didn’t feel he could win, so Fleetwood has to be considered a contender. But Reed has been on an absolute heater, finishing second in the Race to Dubai and doing it while playing only 11 events. He grabbed a share of second place at the DP World Tour Championship and was T7 at the WGC-HSBC Champions. He debuted here with a T3 in 2015 and his accuracy and greens in regulation have been among the best.
Golf Betting Odds
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