Singapore Classic Predictions, Best Bets, Odds

Due to COVID, the DP World Tour hasn’t visited the Far East since 2019.

It’s been an even longer wait for Singapore, a country that hasn’t staged a tournament at this level for nine years.

This week’s venue, Laguna National Golf Resort Club, will ring a bell for close followers of the DP World Tour/Asian Tour but this isn’t the same layout where Felipe Aguilar won The Championship in 2014.

This time we’re at the Classic Course which locals have dubbed ‘The Beast’ to reflect its difficulty.

It’s a 7,420-yard par 72 designed by Andy Dye, the nephew of Pete. And in a nod to his Uncle’s most famous hole, the 17th at Sawgrass, Andy has built a penultimate hole with an island green. Many of these putting surfaces have strong undulations incidentally.

Three of the par 5s come in the final six holes (13, 14 and 18), with the closer listed at 534 yards which, in theory, offers the chance for eagle.

Weather-wise, this is Singapore so expect it to be hot, humid and sticky. In addition, there’s always a threat of afternoon storms.

Finally, this is the first leg of a three-week Asian Swing which also incorporates next week’s Thailand Classic followed by the Hero Indian Open.   

Hoshino Can Keep hot Form Going

With no course form to go on, it makes sense to look at current form and that brings Rikuya Hoshino into the crosshairs.

The 26-year-old from Japan has racked up six wins on his home Tour, the latest coming in October. 

That was a five-shot victory in the Heiwa PGM Championship and he followed it with a run of 2-8-8-7 in his next four Japanese Golf Tour events.

Hoshino stepped up to the DP World Tour in his first start of the year and immediately found his groove again by finishing sixth at last week’s Ras al Khaimah Championship.

That suggests a win at this level could be the next stage of his development and here could be a good opportunity.

Dig deep and Hoshino has some good form in the region having finished 11th in the Singapore Open on his last visit to the country in 2020.

He’d previously finished sixth in that event in 2017 while he also took fourth place in the 2020 Malaysia Open.

Hoshino gives it a decent bash off the tee while his short-game stats seem to be strong every week. That bodes well given the multi-tiered, tricky greens.

Put it all together and the +4000 for a player that has reached as high as 63rd in the world rankings looks appealing.

Veerman to Get the Better of Moller

If just going on current form, I’d be backing Johannes Veerman to get the better of Niklas Norgaard Moller.

Veerman posted 8th in the Dubai Desert Classic two weeks ago and backed it up with 19th at the Ras al Khaimah Championship on Sunday.

That compares to Moller’s 51st and 48th in the same two events.

But Veerman’s big advantage here is due to the difference in their backgrounds.

Denmark’s Moller stayed close to home and developed his game in the Nordic Golf League but Veerman left the United States to try his luck in Asia.

That means Veerman boasts a bunch of form in the region and it includes a pair of top 25s in the last two editions of the Singapore Open and second places at Asian Tour events in Indonesia, Taiwan and Thailand.

With delays likely and uncomfortable golfing conditions to the humidity, Veerman should be able to take it all in his stride having seen it all before.

Veerman is a deserved favorite in his 72-hole match-up at bet365 and I’m happy to take the American at -143 to see off the big but wonky hitting Dane.

Take Catlin for a Top 10 

Sticking with the idea of an American being very familiar in Asian conditions leads me to John Catlin.

The 32-year-old from California banked four Asian Tour titles across 2018 and 2019 and he’s taken that winning form to the DP World Tour with victories at the Andalucia Masters (2020), the Irish Open (2020) and the Australian Golf Open (2021).

He’s not shown much form since taking 11th at the Andalucia Masters in mid-October but the return to a corner of the globe where he had so much success could prove inspiring.

Catlin is +650 for a Top 10 or +280 for a Top 20 at bet365.

Both are worth a look but let’s make the ambitious play and take the +650.