PREVIEW: 2023 DP World Tour – Thailand Classic

Thailand Classic

The tour makes the short trip from Singapore to Thailand for the first edition of the imaginatively titled Thailand Classic. This is actually a reimagining of the True Thailand Classic- a co-sanctioned event from the European Tour and Asian Tour hosted in 2015 and 2016.

A fairly decent field has made the trip and it will be interesting to see the likes of Macintyre and Hojgaard battle for Ryder Cup points. This inaugural event will be staged at Amata Spring Country Club.

While a debutant on the DP World Tour, it has hosted several events on the Asian Tour.

Amata Spring Country Club

Designed by Schmidt Curley Golf Design, it’s an absurdly long course at over 7,500 yards. The course is laid to paspalum grass and water is often in play.

The signature hole is the spectacular 17th. The par 3 features a movable island green that is only accessible by boat. It gives proceedings a real Bond-type feel.

This course also hosted the Thailand Golf Championship on the Asian Tour between 2011 and 2015. Stats from that event seem to suggest that you have to bring a solid tee-to-green game to Amata.

Missing the fairways often proved extremely penal- despite pretty forgiving-looking rough. Players need to find fairways and make putts. Look for players with strong tee-to-green game who are suited to these muggy conditions.

The Contenders

Current Portugal Masters champ Jordan Smith is one of the stronger drivers on tour and makes a logical co-favourite this week. Nicolai Hojgaard arguably makes more sense given his victory on paspalum at last year’s Ras Al Khaimah Championship.

Robert Macintyre has run into poor form ahead of this important European season. His missed cut in Singapore makes him a risky proposition this week.

Elsewhere, the likes of Thorbjorn Olesen and Adrian Otaegui have the distance to tame this beast.

Past Winners

N/A

To Win Outright

Jordan Smith 18/1 | Nicolai Hojgaard 18/1 | Robert Macintyre 22/1 | Adrian Otaegui 25/1 | Thorbjorn Olesen 25/1

Value Bets

Marcel Schenider- To Win 35/1 | To Place 15/2

33-year-old German Marcel Schneider looks to be trending nicely for this weekend. He had a quietly solid 2022 campaign, picking up six top-10 finishes throughout the year. These included a fourth at the Dutch Open and a T5 at the Porsche European Open. He had started 2023 quietly but seems to have found some consistency in his last two results. He finished T19 at the Ras Al Khaimah Championship prior to a T3 in last week’s Singapore Open. These results highlighted both his ability to play well on paspalum and to thrive in this part of the world.

Sebastian Soderberg- To Win 60/1 | To Place 13/1

2019 Omega European Masters champion Sebastian Soderberg may well be with a gamble this week. He has been the completely crash or burn of late. The Swede has missed his last two cuts leading into this event. But prior to that, he finished in a tie for second in the Rolex Series event in Abu Dhabi. He also had a T5 at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in November. Soderberg is an aggressive player who should thrive on this long, soft layout.

The Man to Beat- Thorbjorn Olesen- To Win 25/1)| To Place 11/2

Six-time DP World Tour champion Thorbjorn Olesen has really knuckled down in his quest to rehabilitate his career in the aftermath of that infamous plane incident. And victory at last year’s British Masters will have given him some massive confidence. And his recent form shows a linear progression that makes him very appealing this week. Form figures of 44-30-20-16-4 indicate that the Dane is beginning to find his groove. He went 12-under-par for the final 24 holes last time out at the Ras al Khaimah Championship. He was also 19th here in 2011 in what was his first year as a European Tour player.