Golf Events / Editor / 17 April 2007 / Leave a Comment

Ernie Els created a little bit of history when he landed the spoils in the BMW Asian Open back in 2005 and the big South African will be looking to repeat the dose in Shanghai this week.

This tournament has proved to be a happy hunting ground for the Europeans, who have won every edition of this event with the exclusion of Els' success two years ago, as he broke the sequence by storming to a record-breaking 13-stroke victory.

The South African led from the opening day of the event and completed 72 holes in a tournament-record 26-under-par 262. It was not only the biggest winning margin of the 2005 European Tour season, but the second biggest in the history of the Tour.

The current world number five will be out for a repeat performance and at 7.6 to do just that, he looks to have found some form heading into this week's event despite being narrowly edged out in the weather-hit Heritage Classic on the PGA Tour last week.

The 'Big Easy' looked on course for the honours in South Carolina but eventual winner Boo Weekley miraculously chipped in from 40ft and then 36ft on the last two holes to conjure up an unlikely one-stroke triumph over Els with a 13-under-par total.

However, with more than 50 victories worldwide including three Major Championship titles, Els remains a force in the game and despite disappointing at the US Masters where he failed to make the cut, he'll be determined to land his first European Tour title of the year.

Els has twice gone close, finishing a stroke behind Order of Merit leader Henrik Stenson at the Dubai Desert Classic in February after a third-placed finished a month earlier at the Qatar Masters in Doha.

That was an event won by fellow South African Retief Goosen, who seems certain to be among the pacesetters here in Shanghai as he bids to put aside the disappointment of finishing joint runner-up at the 2007 Masters.

It's the 38-year-old's first time at the BMW Asian Open and he can be backed at 7.2 to land the spoils and continue his recent fine form that saw him fall just short at Augusta. He finished two shots behind winner Zach Johnson, in joint second alongside Tiger Woods and Rory Sabbatini.

In the 'Top 5 Finish' market the two South Africans are currently trading at 2.32 for Els with Goosen available at 2.5.
Shanghai served up a surprise last year when Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano birdied the first play-off hole - the 18th - to beat Stenson and claim victory at the Tomson Shanghai Pudong Golf Club.

He promptly proposed to his girlfriend in the aftermath of that win and they were married six months later. What price another fairytale ending here for the 2005 Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year? Well it certainly looks unlikely on current form with his tied 23rd finish at the Volvo China Open last week his best of the season, reflected by the fact Fernando-Castano is trading at 75 to succeed again here.

The Europeans will no doubt be confident of continuing their domination of this tournament though with Englishman Paul Casey the most-fancied of those at 11 to win the event, given his current form.

Casey arrived in China from the United States having enjoyed a short break since finishing joint tenth in the Masters Tournament at Augusta and knowing he can take plenty of positives from his performance in the season's first Major.

Casey has enjoyed considerable success in this part of the world with two victories in China among his eight European Tour titles but a BMW-sponsored victory has so far eluded last year's European Tour Player of the Year.

Elsewhere, Colin Montgomerie, who missed out on a place in the play-off in the event last year by a single stroke, could also be in the frame. The big Scot could feature prominently in the 'Top 10 Finish' market with a decent start but can't be ruled out to land a 31st European Tour title.

Austria's Markus Brier will be confident of reproducing a winning performance in the Far East after claiming his second European Tour title with victory in the China Open in Shanghai last week.

The 38-year-old's only previous Tour win came in the BA-CA Golf Open in Vienna last June, but after picking up the biggest cheque of his career, a cool $333,330, Brier may be inspired to at least secure a top-10 finish in Shanghai.

Former winner, Spain's Miguel Angel Jiminez is also lining up in the high-class field and can be backed at 36 to reproduce his winning performance of 2004.
Inaugural winner back in 2002 was Sweden's Jarmo Sandelin (380) and he tees up again here together with crowd favourite and 1995 Open Champion John Daly (140).

The BMW Asian Open, co-sanctioned by The European Tour, Asian Tour and China Golf Association, this year carries a record prize fund of $2.3 million.