Caltex Singapore Masters

This is the fifth staging of the Caltex Singapore Masters and the fourth successive year that it has been held at the Laguna Country Club. It is a jointly sanctioned even between the European Tour and the Asian PGA, meaning that we have a diverse field, consisting of the very best from the Asian circuit, and a good selection from the European hard core too.Three members of the victorious European Ryder Cup team are taking part, with the two biggest draws being Lee Westwood and Colin Montgomerie. Between them they amassed eight points out of a possible ten in the matches last September and they have also accounted for 44 titles in their combined careers.For both of these former European Order of Merit winners, this will be their first outing of the season. Monty enters as defending champion, and his only other entry in this tournament saw him come third in 2001, although that was at a different venue, the Singapore Golf Club.The Scot is entering the twilight of his career, but still possesses the skills to mix it with the best and this was evident in the off-season, as much as it was during the last campaign as a whole. At the Target World Challenge in December, Monty led the elite field for three days before slipping to 3rd with a 71. That was the last time the 41 year old was seen in action and there was a refreshing air about his jovial manner.16/1 is available, and this looks better than the 10/1 being offered as a best price for Westwood. There is no doubting his class, and his world ranking of 25 is higher than anyone else in the field, but we are mainly put off by the fact that none of his 16 European titles have actually been won on the world circuit, by which we mean outside the confines of 'actual Europe.' He has also not been in action since the Volvo Masters, and we are not tempted on this occasion. We are also leaving Monty out of the betting verdict.The third member of the Ryder Cup team to be playing is David Howell, and he is going to be our headline pick. The Englishman was one of the more unlikely heroes of the Ryder Cup, but earned his place on merit, and played superbly when required to. This will be his third counting event of the season, and having come sixth in the Omega Hong Kong Open in December, and eighth last week at the South African Open, his game would appear to be in fine working order. The Hong Kong result also shows an ability to play well outside of Europe, something further evidenced when noting that the 29 year olds only title to date came at the 1999 Dubai Desert Classic.Having no experience of Laguna is a slight concern, but we feel 20/1 is a good price considering that his form appears to have lasted through the off season, and last year he achieved ten top ten finishes, including fifth place at the season ending Volvo Masters.Going strictly by recent form, Gregory Havret has roused our interest. The Frenchman has played in all here counting events to this point, coming 11th at the Volvo China Open, 12th at the Hong Kong Open and then coming second in South Africa last week. This represents the best run of form in the career of the 28 year old, the highlight of which was winning the Italian Open in 2001.A missed cut in his only previous visit here may not bode well in the eyes of some, but it should be realised that his form then was incomparable to that which he takes with him this time. Only two of eight cuts were made at the start of that season, in 2001. 50/1 is a long enough price to coax an each way selection out of us.For our third selection this week, we are going to go for a man who did well for us last week, James Kingston. The South African came fourth at his home Open, and so brought in six points of profit, to go with the 24 acquired by Tim Clark who was also chosen in this preview.As well as his each way place in Durban, Kingston also came second in the Hong Kong Open in December. He has also played in this event every year that it has been held at Laguna with impressive results of 6th (2002), 16th (2003) and 11th (2004).33/1 at VCBet is a good value bet for a man in excellent form, and with a highly competitive record at this particular course.