Poulter to Conquer Sheshan

Best Bets:

0.75 Pts E/W (1-5) Ian Poulter 50/1 (Bet Victor)

0.75 Pts EW (1-5) Thomas Pieters 80/1 (Bet Victor)

This week sees the return of the WGC HSBC Champions which is a PGA and European Tour co-sanctioned event. The event will again be hosted by the Sheshan International Golf Club in Shanghai, which has hosted this competition since 2005. The course is a big hitter’s paradise with extremely long par threes and a drivable par 4. There are also four par fives on this 7261 yard track.

The early forecast suggests some rain for the week, which could all but eliminate the shortest hitters in the field. In an event with a high calibre field we are happy to avoid any golfers that haven’t played recently. That includes world number 2 Jordan Spieth, who will be playing on a course that perhaps isn’t ideally suited to his game. That being said we would never write off such a high class golfer. Most past champions on this course have played the week prior to the event and both of our picks meet this criteria.

Our Tips:

0.75 Pts E/W (1-5) Ian Poulter 50/1 (Bet Victor)

Ian Poulter is a past winner of this event, winning back in 2012. The win however was the only time the competition ventured away from Sheshan with Poulter’s victory coming at Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzhen. More importantly Poulter’s past form at Sheshan in this event has been fantastic. Aside from the win, Poulter has placed in the top 15 in each of the last four events staged at Sheshan. This to us suggests a couple of things. Poulter relishes the extra pressure that this time of the year brings, where the European Tour reaches its climax. Furthermore Poulter loves playing golf in this part of the world, with the unique conditions the climate and course offers.

Poulter is a last minute addition to the field this week, making his way into the field as sixth alternate after Brandt Snedeker declined to play. This is fantastic news for Poulter who will be looking for a strong week to make his way back in to the top 50 in the golf world rankings. Poulter has been playing steadily with strong showings in Hong Kong and Turkey. He is hinting that a return to top form is near and at 50/1 he represents fantastic value this week.

0.75 Pts EW (1-5) Thomas Pieters 80/1 (Bet Victor)

Our second tip this week is the huge hitting Belgian, Thomas Pieters. This will be the first time Pieters has played in this event, but the course is ideally set up for the young Belgian. Pieters is currently having a breakout season on the European Tour with two wins this year. He was desperate to make the field this week and will be looking to impress on the world stage. His last few starts have been encouraging enough and we were surprised to see him going off at such a high price. This is definitely one that could go really well or extremely badly with the Belgian’s explosive personality, but we are happy to take a punt on him at such a high price.