The Thailand Golf Championship takes place this week, with Lee Westwood having the chance to shine in the absence of Donald and McIlroy
A sprinkling of players from the European Tour will join up with their counterparts from Asia this week at the Thailand Golf Championship. A few star names are missing but Lee Westwood is favourite and will be looking to end his season on a high (Westwood 9/2 Tournament Outright).
Westwood has won three times this year and is currently ranked third in the world but the Worksop-born star still feels he has been below his best and has taken a step backwards, having begun the year as the top-ranked player.
A couple of top-10 finishes in the majors suggests that he is still more than capable of mixing it with the best and he will continue his search for an elusive first major in 2012.
The 38-year-old won the Ballantine’s Championship in South Korea back in May and has shown a liking for golf in Asia over the years and, with the likes of Luke Donald and Rory McIlroy absent this week, the stage is set for Westwood to finish the year on a high.
The talented Englishman failed to spark in last week’s Dubai World Championship and was very much in the shadows of Donald and McIlroy as they battled it out for the money list title, but he is tipped to put in a big performance at Amata Spring Country Club in Bangkok.
Challenges will come from Sergio Garcia, whose resurgence this year can only bode well for Europe’s chances of retaining the Ryder Cup Stateside in 2012.
Back-to-back tournament victories at the Castello Masters and Andalucia Masters were a huge confidence boost for the 31-year-old Spaniard and he looks set for big things in 2012 following a couple of years in the doldrums.
Masters champion Charl Schwartzel has established himself as a real star of the game this year and he will also line up in the Far East this week (Schwartzel 13/8 Top Five Finish).
The 27-year-old proved that he can handle the pressure with an awesome display on the back nine at Augusta to claim his first major and it would surprise nobody to see his name near the top of the leaderboard in Thailand on Sunday.
The South African has secured five consecutive top 10 finishes and must be watched this week.
England’s Simon Dyson has already won twice this year and, with a ninth place finish at the Open, it could be said that he has made the breakthrough to the upper echelons of the sport.
His results have been mixed since claiming the KLM Open back in September but the 33-year-old did finish ninth in the recent Nedbank Challenge and may be set for one final push before Christmas.
There are a couple more major winners in the field with burly duo Darren Clarke and John Daly set for a run-out.
Neither look like winners however, with the Northern Irishman still to find any sort of form following his success at Sandwich.
South Korea’s Kim Kyung-tae leads the Asian challenge and the 25-year-old certainly looks like a possible future winner, if not now.
He played in all four majors in 2011 and is currently ranked 24th in the world after an encouraging year, and may well have a say in proceedings this week (Kim 4/5 72-hole Match with Ryo Ishikawa).
There are any number of players from the Asian Tour in the field but, if the cream rises to the top, then Westwood is the man to follow.
