Golf

Steve Palmer's Singapore Classic predictions and free golf betting tips

Racing Post

07 February 2023

Where to watch

Live on Sky Sports Main Event and Golf from 5.30am on Thursday

Best bets

Johannes Veerman
2pts each-way 33-1 general

Gavin Green
1.5pts each-way 60-1 Coral, Ladbrokes

Taiga Semikawa
1pt each-way 70-1 Hills

Clement Sordet
0.5pt each-way 200-1 Hills

Joakim Lagergren
0.5pt each-way 150-1 bet365

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Some of the nicknames attributed to the Classic Course at Laguna National will be enough to give the arriving DP World Tour stars nightmares – it has been billed as 'Asia's Toughest Test' and 'The Remarkable One' – but professionals usually find a way to handle anything that is thrown their way.

The venue will probably struggle to live up to the hype, especially with soft conditions and no breeze forecast, but the undulating greens look challenging.

Steve Palmer's top tip

Johannes Veerman 33-1

A prime candidate for overcoming the Classic Course assignment is Johannes Veerman, who lived in Asia as a youngster and started his professional career on the Asian Development Tour so will be comfortable in the conditions.

Veerman won on the ADT in 2016, in Taiwan, and he has 19 top-tens to his name in Asia. He was a top-25 finisher in both his Singapore Open appearances and has found form at the perfect time for his return to the country.

Eighth place in the Dubai Desert Classic was a confidence booster, followed by 19th spot in Ras al Khaimah. Veerman became a father a year ago, throwing himself into parenting, but he is knuckling down on the practice ground again and seems primed for this assignment.

Next best bet

Gavin Green 60-1

Three victories on the ADT quickly showed that Gavin Green had the potential to become a star and the Malaysian won in Taiwan on the Asian Tour in 2017. Green topped the Asian Tour Order of Merit that year and much of his best DP World Tour form has come in his home continent.

Green was second in the 2017 Indian Open, eighth in the 2018 Singapore Open, and his hot streak at the end of last year started in Singapore, with a runner-up effort in an Asian Tour event there in August. That was followed by second spot in the Czech Masters, second in the Portugal Masters and seventh in the Nedbank Challenge.

Other selections

Taiga Semikawa 70-1
Clement Sordet 200-1
Joakim Lagergren 150-1

Taiga Semikawa, the best amateur in the world before turning pro at the end of October, won two Japan Tour events as an amateur, showcasing his enormous potential, and PGA Tour invites have come his way this year. He made the cut in the Sony Open and the Farmers Insurance Open and the 22-year-old looks extremely dangerous on his DP World Tour debut this week.

Clement Sordet, a five-time Challenge Tour champion, finished second in a high-class Thailand Championship at the start of his career and enjoys his trips to Asia. The Frenchman, runner-up to Thriston Lawrence in the South African Open two months ago, looks a lively outsider, as does Joakim Lagergren.

Lagergren carded a second-round 67 in the Desert Classic to miss the cut by a shot last time out, indicating that he had shed his Christmas rust, and the Valderrama runner-up should be a factor this week if he rediscovers his autumn form. He was third in the 2015 Indian Open.

Classic Course guide

Course Classic Course, Laguna National Resort, Singapore
Prize money $2m ($333,400 to the winner)
Length 7,420 yards
Par 72 – four par-fives; ten par-fours; four par-threes
Field 132 The cut Top 65 and ties qualify for round three
Highest-ranked players in field (world ranking in brackets) Ryan Fox (30), Adrian Otaegui (73), Thriston Lawrence (74), Robert MacIntyre (82), Adri Arnaus (86)
Course records- 72 holes 282 Daniel Boonma (2015 World Classic); 18 holes 67 Nicholas Fung, Akinori Tani, Jazz Janewattananond

When to bet By 12.15am Wednesday night

When to watch Live on Sky Sports Main Event and Golf from 5.30am on Thursday

Time difference Singapore is eight hours ahead of the UK and Ireland

Last week – Ras al Khaimah Championship 1 D Gavins (200-1), T2 A Bjork (45-1), Z Lombard (125-1), T4 A Meronk (18-1), T Olesen (40-1), T6 R Hoshino (80-1), A Arnaus (28-1), R Hojgaard (18-1)

Course type Parkland

Course overview From 2002 through 2007, the Singapore Masters was played at Laguna National's Masters Course and the 2014 Championship at Laguna National was at the Masters Course too. The 2015 World Classic, an Asian Tour event, is the only form from the Classic Course

Weather forecast Warm with gentle breezes for the most part – and the threat of short thunderstorms throughout

Type of player suited to the challenge Billed as 'Asia's Toughest Test', this Andy Dye construction has 150 bunkers, waste canyons, water hazards and large, heavily tiered greens, providing a decent all-round test, particularly on the dancefloors

Key attribute Touch/putting