Australian PGA Championship Betting Tips

Bet On The Australian PGA Championship

The Course

Royal Pines Resort, Benowa - Queensland, Australia - Par 72, 7,380 Yards

We head to the beautiful Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia for the final event of 2019 at the Royal Pines Resort 10 minutes drive inland from the lively seaside resort of Surfers Paradise. This wonderful part of the World is home to some of the most picturesque and challenging golf courses anywhere in Australia, and this 1990 Tomojiro Maruyama design is no exception. A composite 18 holes on a complex of 27, this week's venue is made up of the "green" and "gold" nines (the patriotic Australians sticking to their national colours), and should provide a more relaxed and conquerable challenge than that posed by Royal Melbourne at last week's enthralling Presidents Cup. Royal Pines is a tree lined, largely flat, course with rivers and trees running along the fairways. It is generally more picturesque than challenging, but players will need to avoid complacency if they are to be successful this week.

The fairways here are quite narrow by Tour standards, although the couch grass rough could be more penal, so whilst there is more of an emphasis on driving here at Royal Pines than some of the bigger, more open, venues, there is no significant punishment for slightly wayward drives. Players, especially the bigger hitters could find trouble if they are significantly off line, and it's possible to run up big numbers with bad driving here, so i will generally favour the consistent, straighter, hitters. This is supported by the fact that lakes eat into several fairways making overpowering the course almost impossible, and players will need to think strategically throughout the round.

Lakes, as well as significant bunkering, also provide the biggest defence for the approach shots here. There are over 100 green side bunkers (although not all are realistically in play for these players), and if players are able to avoid these obvious hazards, there are also large runoff areas to contend with, making this primarily a second shot course. Any player whose shots do run off the green will need an extremely strong short game to get up and down as they are chipping back against the grain (direction of the grass), making both contact and ball speed exceptionally hard to control. To contend, players will need to hit a high number of greens in regulation. Failing that, a superb short game will be required, and it is no surprise to see home grown players taking four of the last five titles here.

Last Five Winners:

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*All odds from Bet UK’s online betting markets correct at the time of writing.

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UBS Hong Kong Open Golf Betting Tips

Bet UK’s golf betting expert Luke Tredget brings you his tips ahead of this weeks UBS Hong Kong Open. Head over to Bet UK's online betting for golf betting odds on all PGA and European tour events. You can also get golf betting tips for all major golf events at Bet UK's sports betting blog.

The Course

Fanling has been a regular stop on the European Tour for a long while now and many viewers will know it inside out. It’s a tight tree lined par 70, fiddly by nature and a course where the driver doesn’t come out of the bag that often. Accuracy from the tee is very much the key to unlocking Fanling. This is the first event of the new European Tour season.

The Big Names in Hong Kong

Tommy Fleetwood, Patrick Reed and Sergio Garcia are the three biggest names in the field this week and they head the market with Bet UK with all three trading close to the 6/1* mark. Fleetwood has excellent course form having finished 6th last year and 3rd the year before and he plays well nearly every time he tees it up at the moment. However he’s played a huge amount of golf recently and his futile chase of Francesco Molinari in the Race to Dubai standings may well have taken its toll. Patrick Reed also has a 3rd place finish here from back in 2015, but much like Fleetwood he may be somewhat drained after his 2nd place finish last week and final round shootout with Danny Willett. Sergio Garcia’s creative mind and vast array of shots should suit this venue, the golf required to win here would be of a similar ilk to that at Valderrama, and we all know how Sergio fares at that track. On balance though there’s not quite enough juice in the Spaniard’s price to warrant getting involved.

Matthew Fitzpatrick - 14/1*

Having overlooked the three players that dominate the betting, out first wager will be on the man who sits fifth in Bet UK’s list. Fitzpatrick already has five European Tour wins to his name including two at Crans-sur-Sierre, a venue that requires the type of plotting accurate game that will be needed this week. 19th last year and tied 3rd in 2015 Fitzpatrick has already shown he’s comfortable with the Fanling layout and a sixth career victory aged just 24 is a distinct possibility. Perhaps we’d have liked a better showing last week, a 34th place in Dubai will mean the Englishman won’t exactly arrive with a spring in his step, but this week’s test is so different that it’s not a huge concern. Bet UK make Fitzpatrick a 14/1* chance and that looks worth a moderate wager to begin the staking plan.

Marcus Kinhult - 45/1*

Our next bet will be the highly promising young Swede Marcus Kinhult. Kinhult had a very solid season last year given it was his first look at the vast majority of courses and we can safely expect this exciting talent to progress again this time around. Kinhult’s neat and tidy game should be perfect for Fanling and he was a respectable 27th last year when seeing the layout for the first time. Bet UK have the Swede at 45/1* and we think he’s well worth chancing at that price.

Alejandro Canizares - 70/1*

My idea of just about the best value in the field is Alejandro Canizares at 70/1*. The Spaniard had a disappointing season last year and was forced to go back to Tour School. That proved to be no bad thing for Canizares as he regained his card with ease finishing joint top in the end of year scramble. Just prior to that Canizares posted a respectable 16th place finish at Valderrama, so with his game in good shape and confidence sure to have returned all the signs point to a decent week ahead. The Spaniard has a couple of bits of form at Fanling too with a 22nd and 6th place in the history books and another good showing is fully expected.

Thomas Aiken - 67/1*

Fairways and greens have always been the basis of Thomas Aiken’s golf and there have been enough positive signs from the South African recently to suggest he’s worth a small bet this week. 16th at Valderrama and 10th in Turkey are encouraging performances, and last year in the second round here Aiken fired a magnificent 64 before fading away over the weekend. Tree lined courses are right up Aiken’s street and he has some good form at both Valderrama and Wentworth which bodes well for him this week. Bet UK have him at 67/1* and that looks a touch too generous all things considered.

Gregory Bourdy - 125/1*

Our final selection is 125/1* shot Gregory Bourdy. The Frenchman seems to have been around forever but is only 36 and given he is a former champion here looks overpriced this week. His game has always been built around accuracy and he’ll be returning to a course he has very fond memories of. In 2009 Bourdy took the title here and beat none other than Rory Mcilroy into second place. The 11th place finish at Valderrama shows that Bourdy can still plot his way around tough tracks and a small wager at a monster price is hard to resist.

Other Notables in the Field

Rafa Cabrera Bello and Lucas Bjerregaard both command plenty of respect. Cabrera Bello has finished second here in the last two renewals and Bjerregaard has had an excellent year and become one of the European Tour’s rising stars. A victory for either would come as no great surprise but they make little appeal at the prices. Two Australians likely to prove reasonably popular with punters are Jason Scrivener (10th and 3rd on his only two visits here) and defending champion Wade Ormsby. Bet UK have them at 30/1* and 48/1* respectively. We’ve already highlighted Gregory Bourdy as the best of those at three figure prices, but the one other that caught the eye was Phachara Khongwatmai at 175/1*. The Thai teenager won’t be those sort of prices for long but arrives here on the back of three missed cuts so is reluctantly passed over.

Bet UK’s Golf Betting Tips

*All odds from Bet UK’s online betting correct at the time of writing.

If you are betting on the Hong Kong Open, please gamble responsibly and remember that when the fun stops, stop. All players must be 18+, begambleaware.org.