Singapore Classic Golf Betting Tips

Ben Coley has been hitting the crossbar on the DP World Tour lately, just as he did in Singapore last year. Find out who he’s backing this time.

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Weather and Course Conditions

After The PLAYERS Championship had to go into Monday to find a champion despite tee-times having been brought forward on Sunday, the question ahead of the Singapore Classic isn’t so much when it will finish, but whether it will even begin.

At the time of writing, the forecast suggests that rain, bucketloads of rain, is an inevitability from Wednesday morning. When it begins, it isn’t expected to stop until perhaps the weekend and if it comes down in the way it can out here, we could be in trouble.

It’s only two tournaments ago that the South African Open was cut to three rounds after a Sunday washout but that could feel like a relative marathon once we’re done at Laguna National. This is one of those weeks where it feels pertinent to remind readers that, for most bookmakers, 36 holes are needed for outright bets to stand.

You do wonder how much they’re paying Robert MacIntyre, who produced another excellent display at Sawgrass and is the one player in this field who will have had to endure both sets of delays. Like Shane Lowry last year, this seems an odd place to ramp up Masters preparations, but with Porsche the new title sponsors he’ll be looked after.

Key Players and Form

MacIntyre has to cope with the journey from Florida though whereas both Paul Casey and Tom McKibbin are at a potential advantage: last week, they were playing about 30 miles away at Sentosa. Casey fared best in 10th but McKibbin’s final two rounds were also to a top-10 standard and not having to acclimatise to these conditions puts them one step ahead.

In fact, with both having contended for top-10 finishes here at Laguna National, a par 72 known as ‘The Beast’ and ideal for long drivers even before the rain comes down, had the forecast been better it wouldn’t have been hard to justify backing both of them.

I made the case for Casey last year, when he ambled around for sixth without doing anything spectacularly, and the fact that Jesper Svensson went on to win justified the working out – indeed re-reading that preview brings back some painful memories, having chosen Kiradech Aphibarnrat over the Swede. Aphibarnrat was his play-off victim.

Anyway, while McKibbin in particular is quite difficult to oppose, the forecast tempers enthusiasm for those at short prices. Casey and McKibbin have of course signed up for the shorter format offered by LIV, but their chances of winning this mid-tier DP World Tour event get worse with every round that’s cancelled.

Wenyi Ding: The Rising Star

For a while now I’ve hoped to be on Wenyi Ding here and despite the inevitable Monday move, his price rates good value.

This former world number one amateur only turned pro late last year, signing off with victory in the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, and his career at Arizona State suggests we may just be talking about the first great male professional from China.

We’ll see about that in time but right now he’s showing that he can contend for DP World Tour titles, having been second at halfway in Qatar, finished better for 20th in Kenya, and then sat fifth at halfway before finishing 14th in Joburg.

Wenyi’s finishing positions are improving nicely with each passing week right now and while his stats suggest red-hot putting is a big part of his early success, his tee-to-green numbers are also getting better.

A long, strong driver, the missing piece of the puzzle has been his approach play but he produced his best performance yet in that department last time out so we really do look to be close to seeing him put four rounds together, which he did for fifth in the Australian Open.

Crucially perhaps, that was one event he’d played in before albeit at a different course and when you’re making your way in the game as he is, anything that helps provide some sort of comfort can be massive.

That’s why I’ve been waiting for the Singapore Classic, as two years ago he shot 66-66 to lead while still an amateur and although Saturday’s third round was a struggle, he finished strongly for an excellent 23rd.

Additional Contenders

Sam Bairstow had a good chance to win this 12 months ago and returns with form figures of 10-11-9, the middle of them a good chance to win in Durban. This big-hitting lefty, whose profile is similar to that of Svensson, must hold every chance again.

Spanish youngster Angel Ayora should enjoy what he sees but whereas this is a new experience for him, compatriot Alejandro del Rey boasts some of the best course form in the field.

Del Rey defied a slow start to be third on debut when leading after 54 holes, his best result in 2023, then produced his best result in 2024 when seventh despite having only scraped through to the weekend.

That says much about the task at hand and just as last year he arrived after finishing way down the field at the totally unsuitable Kenya Open, I don’t find it especially difficult to justify his performances since a runaway victory at Al Hamra, another big-hitters’ paradise.

First he missed the cut days later on a funky course in Bahrain, then he missed it on the number in Doha having started well but seemingly run out of gas. Following a month off, he defied an opening 75 to climb to 25th in Durban, then last time out missed the cut by one in Joburg on another tight course akin to that in Nairobi.

I doubt these performances reflect a total loss of the form he showed in breaking his duck and this pocket powerhouse remains both hugely promising, and certainly a player who is best sided with when conditions are in his favour.

That is absolutely the case here and while he’d have to win to make Singapore his best result for the third year in succession, I don’t think it’s beyond him.

Marco Penge: The Comeback Kid

This formulaic preview heads next to the name Marco Penge, who has played beautifully either side of a suspension for, ahem, betting on golf.

Penge has gone 20-3-19 since returning, denied a chance to win in Durban when the final round was cancelled, and having ended last year with form figures of 28-22-MC-27 he really has now found his feet on the DP World Tour.

When that happened on the Challenge Tour he made hay and this dynamite putter, very much cut from the same cloth as players like Svensson and Bairstow, looks like he really should love a Laguna National course further softened by rain.

Last year’s missed cut might suggest otherwise but it was his sixth in seven starts and can be ignored, and this powerful driver will be among those desperate to get a proper crack at the event given the way he’s played since returning.

I thought his performance in Joburg was especially encouraging given the suffocating nature of that course and given the chance to open his shoulders here, he can do as he did on the Challenge Tour and win shortly after offering clear signs of encouragement.

Casey Jarvis and Jeon Weon Ko

Casey Jarvis has drifted quite markedly following a couple of narrow missed cuts but wasn’t far off contending here last year, did so in Korea later on, and is hitting it well. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll put it all together at some stage soon but those efforts on home soil were undeniably disappointing.

French Fancy

Jeon Weon Ko has started to play really well and in actual fact, he’s been a shot or two away from making every cut this season. I like Ko, a powerhouse with good hands, and was tempted to give him the benefit of the doubt following two poor efforts here.

Instead it might be best to keep an eye on him with next week in mind and I’ll side with compatriot David Ravetto.

Another long driver, Ravetto won the Czech Masters on a long, soft course last autumn and whether it’s a guide to this event or not, the fact that Svensson was runner-up does tell you what the key requirement was that week.

Also 13th behind del Rey at Al Hamra, ninth on the PGA Tour in the big-hitters’ Barbasol Championship, a contender at the monster Blair Atholl and a winner in an event Wilco Nienaber has captured twice, he’s another with a pretty specific set of requirements.

Results of 23rd and 21st here both came amid quiet runs of form and I think he’s playing pretty nicely at the moment, making four cuts in six, missing the other two narrowly, and driving the ball just about as well as anyone over the past three tournaments.

His putter warmed up for that win in the Czech Republic and if it does so at a course where he’s ranked second and sixth in strokes-gained off-the-tee, this young Frenchman could well double his tally.

Ivan Cantero: The Dark Horse

Ivan Cantero is another who fits the bill and he played OK last year to finish 49th, driving the ball to his customarily high standard.

Cantero wouldn’t have enjoyed the course in Joburg, nor is Kenya properly suitable, and if we take out those two his form figures read 31-5-4-14-25 since the beginning of the year.

We were on him when fifth at a massive price at Al Hamra, then again when fourth in Bahrain where he missed the play-off by one, and he’s drifted back out again following a run of courses which just don’t play to his strengths.

Like del Rey, he whacks it miles despite his short stature and with his driving numbers remaining strong, a decent week in other departments might be all that’s required given his potential to dominate off the tee.

Cantero’s approach play is much improved since this time last year, his putting always has the potential to spike, and I’d be confident we need not read anything into his missed cuts in Africa lately.

Grant Forrest: The Scot to Watch

Finally, I want to chance Grant Forrest at three-figure prices.

In the most straightforward terms, Forrest is a long driver who holes putts, which is how you’d describe Svensson, as well as third-placed Bairstow, and it’s very much the formula del Rey has put to use here too.

Forrest did it on debut himself, finishing sixth, and he was nicely set to challenge again after an opening 66 last year only to struggle over the final three rounds.

Putting four rounds together has been a bit of a problem lately, a fact demonstrated by finishing 64th in Kenya having been 10th at halfway, but he has made four cuts in five to begin the year and missed the other by a single shot. That’s the only cut he’s missed since last year’s US Open.

There are some indications then that Forrest isn’t far away, especially now his putter is beginning to warm up, and Laguna National is definitely a good course for the Scot.

I also like the fact his friend Calum Hill won in Kenya. Back in 2021, Hill was on hand to celebrate when Forrest won at Fairmont St Andrews, then Forrest returned the favour just a week later at the London Club.

Alone that fact wouldn’t be enough but around a course made for sluggers who make putts, and with the weather adding a dose of volatility, Forrest is one I have to be on.