Johnnie Walker returns to Thailand
IN: News | Asian | Johnnie Walker Classic (2007) | Preview | by Bruce Young | 28 Feb 2007
The Johnnie Walker Classic this week returns to the Blue Canyon Country Club in Phuket, Thailand, for the first time since 1998. When last held at this layout in 1998, Tiger Woods produced a whirlwind finish, making up eight shots on Ernie Els on the final day and beating him in a playoff.
There will be no Tiger Woods this year but Els is back and is perhaps the favourite to win the title although the man who finished third that year and only one shot out of the playoff, Retief Goosen, is also in this year's field.
The event is tri-sanctioned between the European, the Australasian and the Asian Tours with 156 players gaining starts via the various qualifying categories for each Tour.
The layout used at the Blue Canyon Country Club is one of two courses at this golfing facility and was designed by one of Japan's most prolific golf course architects, Yoshikazo Kato. The course has been extended and upgraded in recent years although the additional 100 yards the course now measures will hardly compensate for the significant extra distances golf now demands nine years on from the event's last visit here.
The field will include five players from the top twenty of world golf, with Canadian, Mike Weir, providing a little North American star flavour. Weir has slipped to 50th in the World ranking but his appearance certainly adds to the strength of the field.
Ernie Els did not last long at the Accenture but his earlier form is a better guide to his chances this week. He had been inside the top ten in each of his previous twelve appearances worldwide and with a good result the last time he played Blue Canyon, he is expected to go well.
Like Els, Retief Goosen was in very good form until a mediocre effort at the Nissan and a second round loss last week at the Accenture. It may also be better to consider his very good play in the Middle East earlier as a guide to his chances. Third place at this venue in 1998 might be a little too distant in considering his chances this week but along with Els he ensures a strong likelihood of a South African victory.
Adam Scott is struggling a little with his game early in the season, other than a very good runner up placing at the Mercedes Championship in Hawaii, but he is a previous winner of this event and does play well in Asia. This might just be the event to kick start his run towards Augusta. He has played only three events to date in 2007.
Paul Casey and Colin Montgomerie are the two other players from the top twenty in Phuket this week and with a win in Abu Dhabi a few weeks ago and by reaching the quarter finals at the Accenture, Casey has indicated his readiness for the task this week. Casey has often played well in Asia, more especially in China, and has displayed a very adaptable game and mindset. Montgomerie has been very consistent in recent week, seldom contending but producing some solid finishes. He regularly plays well in Asia and does not seem to mind the hot sultry conditions that will likely prevail this week.
Thailand's golfing hero Thongchai Jaidee appears to be the Asian Tour's best chance of success, although Korean Y.E. Yang, who plays mainly on the Japan Golf Tour and who is still in second place on the European Tour money list despite having played only one tournament in 2007, could also do well. Yang upset many of the world's leading players when he headed a field that included Tiger Woods at the HSBC Championship last November. He lost in round one of the Accenture last week and may yet be a little short of his best.
42 Australasians will line up on Thursday, with some gaining access to such a lucrative starts via their position on the Asian Tour while the others have relied on their efforts on the Australasian Tour to get them to Thailand.
The event offers the opportunity for an Australasian or Asia Tour player the chance, with a victory, to graduate to the European Tour. In order to do so however they will have to get past several of the world's best.
The tournament has prizemoney of £1.25 million or A$3.1 million.
