The CIMB Classic: Crane can reclaim crown says The Punter

One of The Punter's picks - 2010 winner Ben Crane

It's a relatively new tournament but Steve already has a few theories as to what it will take to win in Malaysia, both from the start and at halfway. Read his preview here...

Tournament History
This is the third staging of the CIMB Classic, an event co-sanctioned by the PGA and Asian Tours.

Venue
The MINES Resort & Golf Club, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Course Details
Par 71, 6,954 yards
Stroke index in 2011 - 69.26

The MINES is a short Robert Trent Jones. Jr creation, that dates back to 1993. Given that storms hit the area on virtually a daily basis, the greens are always soft, receptive and susceptible to very low scoring.

In addition to the first two renewals of this event, The MINES was also used for the Men's World Cup in 1999, the Women's World Cup in 2000 and the Carlsberg Malaysian Open in 2003 - won by Arjun Atwal.

Useful Sites
Event Site
Tee Times
Course Details

TV Coverage
Coverage will be screened on Sky Sports on all four days, starting at 9.30am on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and 8.30am on Sunday. How much, if any, of the coverage is live will probably depend on when the BMW Masters coverage ends and on the weather. Delays are common in Kuala Lumpur so there's a chance we'll get to see at least some live play.

First Two Winners
2010 - Ben Crane - 18
2011 - Bo Van Pelt -23

What will it take to win the CIMB Classic?
Birdies and lots of them! Bo Van Pelt made 25 and an eagle on his way to victory last year. You need to go low.

Is there an identikit winner?
With only two events to evaluate, we haven't got an awful lot to go on. I would completely disregard the Asian contingency though, so far they've really struggled to compete. In theory they should be far better suited to the hot and sticky conditions and the tricky grainy greens but for some reason, possibly the pressure of playing with the world's best, they've failed miserably to even get close to competing. The experienced Jeev Milkha Singh fared best last year but he was beaten by fully ten strokes!

Both Van Pelt and inaugural event winner, Ben Crane, topped the par 4 performance stats for the week they won so that might be a place to start and I would suggest an analysis of last week's result at the McGladrey Classic may prove worthwhile too...

Ben Crane has won both events and the Malaysian Open winner here in 2003, Arjun Atwal, has played well at the McGladrey a couple of times too. I felt there was definitely a correlation between the McGladrey's venue, Sea Island, and both Waialae, home of the Sony Open in Hawaii, and Colonial Country Club, home of the Crowne Plaza Invitational, so results of those tournaments may also provide a few clues.

In-Play Tactics
Ben Crane was in front by halfway two years ago and the front-three after 36 holes last year, also filled the front-three places after 72 holes. Back in 2003, Atwal led Goosen at halfway and they finished first and second at the end of the week. On such an easy track with low scoring the norm, it's very hard to get past the front-runners and concentrating on the leaders at halfway could well reap rewards.

Market Leaders
If my theory about the similarity between this course and those mentioned above is correct then favourite Tiger Woods makes no appeal at all at just 4.67/2. He doesn't play in any of the events staged at those venues and there must be a reason - Tiger tends to play where Tiger thinks he'll win, or where Tiger's pockets are very nicely lined. I suspect the latter this week and he's too short for me.

Jason Dufner and Bo Van Pelt are vying for second favouritism at single figure prices and I'm more than happy to pass them by too. The pair outclassed the field at last week's Perth International and both have the game to suit the venue, indeed Bo has already proved that by hacking up twelve months ago. Dufner finished 10th after a slow start. I couldn't back them at short prices last week against much weaker opposition and I'm not going to do so here either.

Selections
Ben Crane's lacklustre title defence twelve months ago can be readily dismissed. He'd just won the McGladrey Classic and witnessed the birth of his third child. I'm sure that had he not been the defending champion, he'd have not made the trip and his 20th placed finish can be easily forgiven.

He's been suffering again with his back of late and he withdrew from the Frys.com open because of it but he played very well last week. A Saturday 62 put him in the shake-up but a double-bogey on the 2nd hole on Sunday took him back out of it. I can easily see him contending again this week and 38.037/1 is a fair price.

I was very tempted to back in-form Zimbabwean PGA Tour player Brendon de Jonge, who should have the game for the venue, but I couldn't quite commit. I simply don't like backing non-winners and on his only start here twelve months ago he trailed in down in 31st. People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones I know, but Brendon doesn't look the fittest so maybe the heat took its toll, so I've reluctantly left him out and added just one more, Sean O'Hair.

O'Hair has bits and pieces of form at all the venues mentioned above and he fared ok last week after a slow start, squeezing into the top-20 after shooting a three over-par 73 in round one. He'll need a far faster start this week but at 80.079/1 I thought he was worth chancing.

Selections:
Ben Crane @ 38.037/1
Sean O'Hair @ 80.079/1

I'll be back on Thursday with the In-Play Blog.