Jimenez Or Andersson Hed To Be King Kong

Three-time champion Miguel Angel Jimenez is a fair favourite for the Hong Kong Open and Fredrik Andersson Hed is the best bet of the golfers not at the top of the title market.

Jimenez is the defending Hong Kong Open champion and he has won three of the last nine editions of the tournament that takes place at the Hong Kong Golf Club in Sheung Shui. Just once in nine Hong Kong Open appearances has Jimenez failed to make the cut and he averages 67.82 shots per round. Only Marcus Fraser has a lower Hong Kong Open scoring average than Jimenez out of golfers who have played in the event multiple times. Fraser has three top 10s from his five Hong Kong Open starts but he has not finished higher than third.

Recent form is a major part of the golf betting equation and Jimenez’s numbers in the last few weeks are more than okay. Jimenez did not play last week but he turned out in each of the two weeks prior to that, finishing eighth and 20th. It is difficult to punch holes in Jimenez’s Hong Kong Open credentials and, at odds of 11.00 with Ladbrokes, he is worth including in any tournament-betting portfolio.

Andersson Hed represents the best Hong Kong Open value away from the favourite, with the Swede attractively priced at odds of 46.00 with Stan James. Andersson Hed is coming off an extended break but he returns having placed 10th on his most recent outing and the Hong Kong Golf Club is somewhere that the Swede likes. Andersson finished second in last year’s Hong Kong Open, posting rounds of 66, 66, 70 and 64 to finish just one stroke behind Jimenez. Last year’s Hong Kong Open field was superior in class to the one that will line up this week, with Matt Kuchar and Rory McIlroy among the competitors. So Andersson Hed played extremely well.

With regards to Hong Kong Open match bets, neither Jimenez nor Andersson Hed have been paired with particularly weak opponents at appetising odds so one should focus on Soren Hansen, Jyoti Randhawa and Wen-Chong Liang against Andrea Pavan, Anirban Lahiri and Shiv Kapur respectively.

Hansen almost made the Hong Kong Open winner bets. Hansen was sixth in his last European Tour appearance so he is in decent nick, both mentally and physically, plus he was 11th in the Hong Kong Open three years ago. The problem is that Hansen’s Hong Kong Open numbers are solid rather than spectacular, with finishes of 11th, 19th, 40th, 46th, 55th, 64th and one missed cut. But at least Pavan has Hong Kong Open experience unlike Pavan. Totesport is offering odds of 1.91 that Hansen defeats Pavan and that is a decent bet.

Randhawa is trading at odds of 1.91 with BetVictor to beat Anirban Lahiri. Randhawa is one of the Hong Kong Open’s top previous performers, including two top 10s and another four top 30s. Lahiri has missed the Hong Kong Open cut twice in his three attempts and he finished 55th on his other start. There is nothing to choose between the recent results of Randhawa and Lahiri so the event data is the clincher.

Liang is available at odds of 1.83 with BetVictor to beat Shiv Kapur. Liang has been a Hong Kong Open regular for years and rarely has he been off the pace, with his very consistent results including nine top 30s out of 10. Those are numbers that are perfect for a match-bet proposition. Kapur has either missed the cut or withdrawn from four of the last five Hong Kong Open tournaments, with the Indian placing 48th in the odd even out. A winner three starts ago, Liang’s recent form is superior to that of Kapur so it was a surprise to see the Chinese paired with the Indian.