Golf Events / Editor / 06 February 2007 / Leave a Comment

Thongchai Jaidee has made the Maybank Malaysian Open something of his own over the last few years and the record-breaking Thai star is heavily fancied to clinch his third win in four years when he tees it up in Kuala Lumpur this week.

Jaidee became the first player from Thailand to win a European Tour event in 2004 when claiming the Far East event and, after successfully defending his title in 2005, looked all set to complete a hat-trick last year.

Only a sensational final round nine-under-par 63 from Korean Charlie Wi denied the 37-year-old the crown in 2006 as he missed out on the title by one stroke in a rain-shortened tournament.

But Jaidee is back and determined to make amends at the Saujana Golf and Country Club this week and is clear favourite to do just that, with early market prices having him trading at 9.4 to win and 2.7 to place.

India's Jyoti Randhawa is next best at 18.5 with Lee Westwood and Thomas Bjorn both available at 22, Darren Clarke trading at 24 to win and Michael Campbell (25) and Jeev Milkha Singh (26) also expected to figure prominently.

Jaidee only decided to turn professional little more than seven years ago, but has quickly established himself as the man to beat on the Asian Tour.

He has twice won the Asian Tour's Order of Merit and, having won the most career money on the tour, is a man to be feared whenever he competes on his home circuit.

Even when Wi overtook him on the leaderboard last year, he was still expected to win and it was a major surprise when he failed to hole birdie putts on the 17th and 18 holes to force a play-off.

Deceptively long off the tee and renowned for his strong, mental attitude - something he gleaned from his 11 years in the army - Jaidee is back playing on a course he likes this week and is likely to be challenging for the major honours on Sunday.

In the tournament match-betting, he has been paired against Bjorn and Wen-Chong Liang - 36 to win and 9.2 to come in the top five - and could be worth following.

Thaworn Wiratchant, trading at 55 to win, won the 2005 Asian Tour Order of Merit and will have his followers but has not been in the best form this season and, if another Asian apart from Jaidee is going to win this week, it seems likely he will come from the likes of Randhawa, Singh or Prom Meesawat.

Randhawa was among the leaders for much of last week's Dubai Desert Classic and it was only in the final round that he started to fall away, eventually finishing tied seventh behind Henrik Stenson.

But he only suffered on the final day because his putting touch deserted him and the field in Kuala Lumpur is not nearly as strong as Dubai - where the likes of Tiger Woods and Ernie Els were in action. Randhawa is 4.6 to place in the first five this week.

Meesawat finished alongside Randhawa in Dubai and, at the age of 22, looks a player with a real future in the game.

He is yet to make a big breakthrough but acquitted himself well at last month's Royal Trophy against some of Europe's best and is available at attractive odds of 42 to win and 10 to place in Malaysia.

Singh is yet to hit the heights of last season when he claimed two titles and may be best watched this week, while a number of other European stars will also be hoping to kick-start their campaigns.

Ryder Cup hero Clarke will be playing in his third tournament since making a return to regular European Tour action following the death of his wife last year.

Clarke missed the cut in Qatar but showed good improvement last week where only a poor final round cost him a high finish and he looks on an upward curve.

The Ulsterman, who can be backed at 5.8 along with Campbell to place in the first five, has another incentive to do well this week after slipping outside the world's top 50 and could be worth paying close attention to.

His good friend and Ryder Cup colleague Westwood is a former winner of the event, back in 1997, and should also be watched closely.

Westwood has a good record in Asia and was outstanding in Europe's crushing victory over Asia in the Royal Trophy. He is around a point shorter than Clarke to come in the top five.

But backers should also pay attention to some of the lesser-known players who are in form, and also the also the 'horses for courses' rule, when making their selections.

Simon Dyson and Martin Lafeber, 27 and 42 to win this week, both enjoyed top ten finishes in Dubai while Bjorn showed signs of returning to his stunning best with a joint-tenth place last week.

Alistair Forsyth, who has played well during the first five weeks of 2007, won this tournament in 2002 and looks attractively priced at 95 to win and 16.5 to place while John Bickerton and Mark Foster tied for fourth in Malaysia last year.

French Open champion Bickerton can be backed at 150 to win and 18 to place while Foster, 200 to win and 36 to come in the top five, led at one stage in the final round in 2006.

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