The Punter / Steven Rawlings / 23 April 2008 / Leave a Comment

Steven Rawlings has rooted through the odds for this week's golf betting to come up with a host of selections. Find out where his money has gone here...

The European Tour stays in China this week, moving from Beijing to Shanghai for the BMW Asian Open. Unlike last week though we do have some course form to go on as the event is staged at the Tomson Pedong course for the fifth year running.

My first selection is Jeev Milka Singh @ [29.0]. Nobody on the tour deserves a win more than the consistent Indian; he's twice traded heavy odds-on this year, only to fill the runners-up spot on both occasions. Coming off a morale boosting tied 25th in the Masters and boasting some solid event form I can certainly see him contending again this week.

My second selection is Markus Brier @ [34.0]. Two years ago he went into the final round in a tie for sixth and only three off the lead, but a disappointing final round of 77 saw him slide right down the leaderboard to finish in a tie for 34th.

He improved on that effort last year when he finished fifth. He's a player in good form at present, having also finished fifth last week and having been a selection of mine then, I see no obvious reason to dessert him now.

My final pick is John Bickerton @ [90.0] who deserves much credit for grinding out a level par round last Sunday in what were horrendous conditions. I wouldn't ordinarily advocate using an out of contention final round score as a guide to a player's chances the following week but it did show that this multiple winner is getting back to form.

Last year's Byron Nelson Championship had been a highly emotional affair. It had been the first renewal following Byron Nelson's death and Scott Verplank triumphed in the event at his 21st attempt. Nelson had been both friend and mentor to Verplank since his teenage years and he was visibly shocked after the win when he declared: "There's no question the stars lined up, and I got a little help from upstairs, I had some help out there. I walked off the last tee and I felt a cool breeze -- and it wasn't cool out there."

Nelson's widow Peggy even told Verplank: "Byron picked the winner this week."

We can't expect such an emotional result but we can expect a completely new looking tournament.

Previously staged over two courses the event will now be played solely at TPC Four Seasons. A course that has been completely revamped, where scoring is likely to be tougher than in previous years.

Given the unknown quantity of the course changes I'm being cautious and only backing one player to a decent stake. That's Texan Sean O'Hair @ [34.00]. I'll excuse a spectacular missed cut last week as it came hot on the heels of a hard working 14th in the Masters. He was runner-up here in 2005 and is in very good form this year having already won the PODS Championship.

A couple of other picks, 2002 winner Shigeki Maruyama @ [85.00] and massive outsiders Frank Lickliter and Omar Uresti, both @ [330.0].

I'll post again on Saturday with an update on both events.

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