It’s rare to see the European Tour stay in one region for too long, so to keep with that format it’s off to Malaysia for the playing of the Maybank Championship. Co-sanctioned with the Asian Tour, the Maybank Championship will be playing its fourth year with European Tour status, and for the third consecutive time at the Sajuana Golf and Country Club in Kuala Lumpur. The total purse is about three times more than what was at stake at the Kenya Open last week, still not enough to draw some of the bigger names on Tour, however. Thomas Pieters opened as the betting favorite at BookMaker.eu with odds of +1400. With Joost Luiten withdrawing on Monday, the field opened up even more. Defending champion Shubhankar Sharma opened down the odds list at +5000.
Odds to Win Maybank Championship at BookMaker.eu
Thomas Pieters +1400
Jorge Campillo +1600
Ryan Fox +2200
Fabrizio Zanotti +2500
Adri Arnaus +2500
Thomas Detry +2800
Jordan Smith +2800
Jason Scrivener +2800
Alexander Bjork +3000
George Coetzee +4000
Jazz Janewattananond +4000
David Lipsky +4000
Ross Fisher +4000
Kurt Kitayama +4500
Adrian Otaegui +500
Shubhankar Sharma +5000
Andy Sullivan +5000
Maximilian Kieffer +5000
Pablo Larrazabal +5000
Gaganjeet Bhullar +5000
Chris Paisley +5000
Aaron Rai +5500
Wade Ormsby +5500
Erik Van Rooyen +5500
Julian Suri +6000
Mikko Korhonen +6000
Min Woo Lee +6000
Prom Meesawat +6600
Louis De Jager +6600
Gavin Green +7000
Bernd Wiesberger +7500
Andrea Pavan +8000
Lucas Herbert +8000
Chris Wood +8000
Soren Kjeldsen +8000
Nicolas Colsaerts +8500
Marcus Fraser +9000
Ernie Els +9000
Marcus Kinhult +9000
Ryo Ishikawa +9000
Matthias Schwab +9000
Matthew Southgate +10000
Miguel Angel Jimenez +10000
Nacho Elvira +10000
Padraig Harrington +10000
Yuta Ikeda +10000
Ashley Chesters +10000
Darren Fichardt +10000
Jake McLeod +10000
Thongchai Jaidee +10000
Sihwan Kim +11000
Shaun Norris +11000
Odds Analysis
Shubhankar Sharma +5000
The defending champ could use a trip to Malaysia to get his game headed in the right direction. It’s been a tough start for Sharma, who missed the cut last week and has failed to make it to the weekend in half of his six Tour starts in 2019. And the other three aren’t worth writing home about. His best finish was a T29 at the Dubai Desert Classic. But he loves this part of Asia and it shows in his results. He won on this track last year at -21 and grabbed a T9 two years ago. When the PGA Tour was in Kuala Lumpur for the CIMB Classic in October, Sharma finished T10 after holding the 54-hole advantage. His odds are high for a reason, and this could be the time for him to get some lucky bettors a nice payout.
Adri Arnaus +2500
We featured Arnaus in this section last week for good reason. While he didn’t win the Kenya Open, he came as close as one could, finishing a shot behind eventual champion Guido Migliozzi. The Spaniard is trending in the right direction going from a MC at the Saudi International to T45 at the Oman Open. He was T14 two weeks ago in Qatar prior to his runner-up finish in Kenya. His stats have made the leap as well and everything looks to be clicking.
Thomas Pieters +1400
Not sure what to make of his MC at the Qatar Masters a few weeks back. Maybe the time off will give him the rest he needs to get back to being the force he was. He’s clearly one of the best golfers in the field and form prior to Qatar confirms that. He had five straight top 30 finishes, with three of those being T16 or better. He was T6 at the Oman Open where his second round 75 prevented him from a better finish. He’s new to the venue but not to Malyasia, earning a couple of top-20 finishes. He needs a confidence boost and this is the layout that can deliver that.
Jorge Campillo +1600
It’s easy to take a look down the odds board when there is no clear-cut favorite, And watching Guido Migliozzi win last week in Kenya only opens the field up. Spaniards have typically done well here with a layout that offers some familiarity. And Campillo has been getting close with a pair of runner-up finishes in his last two Euro starts. He also grabbed a share of fourth when this event took place in Selangor.
Course: Saujana Golf & Country Club – 7,135 yards, Par 72
The course isn’t very intimidating at just under 7,150 yards with a par of 72. We’ve seen scores go low here in the past and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t have one or more players tickling the 20-under mark. With five par 4s ranging between 370 and 395 yards we should see plenty of birdie opportunities. And the layout has obliged in the past. The greens were manicured earlier this year to better handle the heavy rainfall that hits the area, and that could help in dropping scores even further. The fairways are tree-lined, but they are forgiving, and there are hazards on less than half the holes. Weather is expected to be typical for this team of year with temperatures pushing triple digits and an occasional lightning storm in the forecast.
TV Coverage: Golf Channel
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