Maybank Championship Preview

Some of the best on the European Tour will make their way to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and the Saujana Golf and Country Club for the Maybank Championship this week. This will be the second installment of the Maybank Championship after Marcus Fraser won the first staging of the event in 2016. Fraser will be back to defend his title this week but considering his long sports betting odds to win outright he will have an uphill climb attempting to double down against an impressive field of competition.

Event

Event Details: Maybank Championship

Category: European

Date: February 9-12

Location: Saujana Golf and Country Club, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Last year’s tournament was staged at the Royal Selangor Golf Club but this year’s Maybank Championship will take place at the Saujana Golf and Country Club so there is a lot of unknowns heading in to the week. The heat and humidity should add to the degree of difficulty the top contenders face this week with a strong contingent from both Europe and Asia on hand to compete.

Previous Winner

2016: Marcus Fraser -15

What To Know About This Course

This year’s Maybank Championship will be played on the Palm Course at the Saujana Golf and Country Club, which has been nicknamed The Cobra. The hot conditions will lead to grainy greens and familiarity should be an important factor for the Asian contingent that has played at this course before. Driving Distance should be considered based on the length of the course but the most important statistic will likely be Greens In Regulation. The grainy greens are so small that accurate iron play will be that much more important this week.

The Field

With a different location and a different field of competition, Fraser has been listed at +4000 to repeat at the Maybank Championship this year. The sports betting favorites for this event include some familiar faces in Rafael Cabrera Bello, Bernd Wiesberger and Charl Schwartzel at +1200 odds followed by Lee Westwood and Jeunghun Wang at +1800 odds. There is a strong Asian contingent expected to be in the mix as well with Anirban Lahiri, Thongchai Jaidee and Kiradech Aphibarnrat listed among the sports betting favorites to win outright this week.

A Good Matchup To Bet: Thongchai Jaidee over Bernd Wiesberger

While Wiesberger has shown flashes of his immense ability we are definitely leaning towards a pick from the Asian contingent on hand at this week’s tournament with Jaidee among our top picks to consider. Jaidee should be in the mix for a top-10 finish this weekend so while we aren’t writing off Wiesberger for a top-25 finish we do like Jaidee to have the edge in terms of a pick for this head-to-head sports betting matchup.

Top-Five Pick: Rafael Cabrera Bello

Cabrera Bello finished 36^th at this tournament a year ago but that was at a different course and he should be considered a strong favorite this week at the Saujana Golf and Country Club. Cabrera Bello hasn’t finished outside the top 20 in four starts this season. Taking a closer look at what he’s done on the PGA Tour – the more challenging of the two tours – he finished in a tie for 19th at the World Golf Championship HSBC Championship and then also had a top 10 results with a tie for 10th at the CIMB classic. He’s been playing well this year and has some momentum heading into this tournament. We like him to continue that strong run and finish inside the top-five as the obvious sports betting favorite to win the Maybank Championship this week. It’s a safe pick but one that should cash in for us.

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