Ballantine's Championship

Ballantine's Championship - Blackstone GC, Icheon,Seoul,South Korea

25 April 2013 - 28 April 2013

Tip date: 23 April 2013

The Ballantine’s Championship returns to Blackstone GC just outside Seoul, Korea for the third successive season. The course itself is a tricky 7300 yard par 72. The fairways are reasonably generous but the multi-tiered greens are the biggest challenge. Bernd Wiesberger triumphed last year with a -18 five shot victory. We expect the winning score this time to be around -12.

Name	Odds	Bookmaker
Thongchai Jaidee	2pt each way 50-1	Bet365	Finishing position: T6 Back Thongchai Jaidee Again
Jaidee has had a pretty decent start to 2013 and the price on offer here simply lept off the page. Tournament stats of 1-9-41-25 show a guy who’s at home with the tournament and the conditions. Thongchai seems to have taken a good deal of confidence from his win last year and we can see another in the offing. Generally he does his best work away from mainland Europe and with consistent form this season we can see him being in the mix come Sunday.
Paul Casey	2pt each way 55-1	Bet365	Finishing position: 113 Back Paul Casey Again
Paul has had a torrid time over the last few seasons which led to an almost complete loss of form. Switching between America and Europe didn’t help. No fully fit and focussed on the European Tour, Casey is starting the long road back to the top. As we all know, at his best he’s a fearless competitor and proven winner – and we see a win for him this season. So far in 2013 he’s not missed a cut and only had four rounds over par. A promising season’s best T16 last week points to a class player who’s moving in the right direction. He has nothing to fear from the course (T25 last year when out of form) or the field this week and we can see him going very close indeed at these odds.
David Howell	2pt each way 40-1	PaddyPower	Finishing position: 31 Back David Howell Again
Anyone who has followed us this season knows we think there’s a win in Howell. It probably should have been last week. He’s swinging well and the putting stroke looks as smooth as ever. We’re not too worried about his shocker of a final round as he’s getting used to being at the top of leaderboards. With his consistency it’s just a matter of putting it all together. This week looks a good bet. There’s a bit of room off the tee which will suit and he should cope better than most with the tricky multi-tiered greens. A nice T12 last year here was decent, especially when he wasn’t playing the quality of golf that he is now.