World No.1 Rory McIlroy will once again carry the favourites tag when he lead the field in this week's Hong Kong Open.
The Hong Kong Open has attracted some notable names, in particular world Number One Rory McIlroy, who will be looking to seal yet another win since taking both the European and US money titles this season. The defending champion has had an outstanding run of results recently and is entering this tournament in terrific form. McIlroy is our unsurprising 5/2 favourite with
Stan James and all eyes will be on him here. Other players should be expecting a challenge here and will have to come out with their best form.
Matt Kuchar will be looking to do well in the tournament and is playing on invitation. Kuchar is making his Hong Kong debut in a rare appearance outside the USA, and could well be a threat to McIlroy. Kuchar’s last win was in the Players Championship in May but he has since played well, and he can be backed to win at 16/1 with
Stan James.
Another potential contender for the win is Matteo Manassero who returned to winning ways in Singapore last week. Great things were expected of Manassero when he first turned professional and he looked to be a rising star, but he has struggled in recent times with a frustrating run of results.
However last week he lifted the trophy in the Singapore Open after coming out on top in a thrilling play-off against Louis Oosthuzien, and he seems to have got back on track. Manassero is at 18/1 to win in golf betting and the Italian can be backed to take a top five finish at odds of 9/2. Manassero finished runner up two years ago and could do well again this time round.
Englishman Paul Casey could also do well here, as he has finished in the top ten in his last three appearances; tying in tenth last week in Singapore, taking sixth in the BMW Masters and fifth in the Perth International. His notable finishes could see him do well here in the Hong Kong Open, and he can be backed to take a top five finish at 11/2 in golf betting, and a top ten finish at 9/4 with
Stan James.
Some other players worth mentioning are Y.E Yang, Paul Lawrie, John Daly, Padraig Harrington and Micheal Campbell, who have all taken wins in Major Championships before. Campbell has recently been playing well but is at 25/1 to have a top five finish, whereas Yang is at 11/2 in golf betting.
Lawrie and Harrington can both be backed to have a top five finish at odds of 6/1, with Daly at a large 40/1 in the same market. This should be an exciting tournament as players should be fighting to defeat the mighty McIlroy, and punters who think there will be a play-off can find odds of 5/2 with Stan James.
5/2 Rory McIlroy
16/1 Matt Kuchar
18/1 Matteo Manassero
25/1 Paul Casey
25/1 Anders Hansen
