UBS Hong Kong Open

Subscribe

Two co-sanctioned events for Euro Tour followers this week, but only the Hong Kong Open makes any appeal for tournament matchbets, and the first is an extremely confident pick.

Y.E Yang to beat Paul Lawrie - 6 points @ 5-6 (Stan James)

Rather like Thomas Bjorn last season, Paul Lawrie has found a second wind in his career, leaving behind self-doubt and lack of confidence to scale heights never reached before. Despite the trio of wins over the past eighteen months, the feeling is now that he has reached his maximum potential and he can pretty much coast for the next few years. That's not to say he can't win many more events but having now reached the rankings top ten (worth much more now than it did in 2001/2 when he was last there) he is surely pacing himself late in the season and all thoughts must surely be turning to the lucrative Dubai events and the Qatar Swing where he has won twice.

Evidence of Lawrie's more realxed attitude are clear from his last three efforts - missing the cut at the Dunhill Links and two midfield efforts in China. The last two are no surprise as he has no form to speak of in any event in China and furthermore Lawrie can boast only one 8th amongst a handful of poor efforts in Hong Kong. Surely he is worth opposing with any player with form.

That player has to be the  2009 USPGA champion, Y.E Yang.

Yang often seems to be a disappointment throughout the seasons, but that disguises some meritous victories and he has shown that he is very nearly in the same sort of form that won the Honda Classic alongside the Major in 2009, and the China Open and Korean Open a year later.

Crucially, Yang explodes when he gets back on Asian soil, and after steady efforts in the PGA season, has already racked up two podium finishes and last week's top-10 in just four events. He was never quite getting there last week but his game showed vast improvement in terms of accuracy and feel and he can take that positive feel through to an event where he has shown steady progress with form figures of 29/19/7 over the past three years.

Everything Yang does in Asia gives him a substantial advantage over the Scot and he is expected to land the bet with little trouble.  

Wen-Chong Liang to beat Shiv Kapur - 4 points @ 5-6 (Stan James)

There cannot be a better line of form than the Chinese number one's recent victory in the Chian Masters. Having given Yang a huge write-up, that play-off victory on the fifth extra hole is a perfect formline for this week.

Liang is another that has not fulfilled his potential in this class and he has found it hard to kick-on from good positions over the past couple of years. Despite this, he has racked up six Asian Tour/One Asia Tour victories since 2007 and a host of top-20 finishes including the BMW Masters and last weeks event in Singapore. Remembering that this bet simply requires him to finish above his oppo, there is no reason to think he can't continue a run of top-20s in Hong Kong (five from last six efforts) and that should be enough to beat such a moderate player in Kapur.

Every so often, Kapur will lob in a low round to be present on a leaderboard but there is no surprise in the record of just one victory in eight years. I am not fussed by recent top-5 finishes in poor events in which he has recent form, and am much more swayed by form in Hong Kong which reads of nothing much! He has no length off the tee, a dubious attitude in contention and no form in the conditions. This could be a massacre.