The second event of the new PGA Tour season sees us switch focus to Malaysia. Following Brendan Steele’s victory in the opener, there’s bound to be an interesting battle for CIMB Classic. Just who will take the title this weekend? Could Steele make it two from two so far this season?
Steele can be backed at 33/1 with Coral for back to back victories, but he’s not the only one looking to continue his domination this weekend. Reigning champion Justin Thomas has won the last two editions of this competition, can he complete a hat-trick in Malaysia? Ahead of the tournament, we have the latest betting tips and predictions for you to take a look at.
Thomas aiming for three in a row
After winning in 2015 and 2016, Thomas is the favourite to take top spot this week as well. He comes into this weekend priced at 9/2 with Betfred, some way out in front in terms of the betting. Thomas took this title after Ryan Moore won back to back titles, and now the reigning champion is aiming to go one better and claim his first win of the new season. While he may be priced up a tad short following some good performances here, we think there’s plenty of reasons to consider backing Thomas for more success this weekend.
While his first two PGA Tour title came at this event, Thomas has won four times since his victory here 12 months ago. All four of those victories have come in 2017, which helped him to come out top in terms of prize money on the US PGA Tour last season. He made just shy of $10 million, beat the likes of Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson. He made the top three in three of his last five PGA Tour events, winning two.
That impressive form should carry over to a course he knows all too well from his recent visits. It’s easy to see why Thomas has been cut to 9/2 with Betfred given his form, as everything seems to be going right for him going in to this event. We think it’s worth backing the two-time CIMB Classic winner to finish off his three-peat, and claim another tour victory to pick up where he left off.
Can anyone challenge Thomas?
One man we’re looking to as a potential challenger is Xander Schauffele, who picked up a win in the Tour Championship at the end of last season. This is set to be his return after that victory last month, and the American will be expecting to kick on after such a big win. Having posted some respectable finishes in the build-up, he capped off his season in the perfect way.
Schauffele should be full of confidence after that, and this looks like a great chance for him to pick up another win. He’s overpriced in our eyes, coming here at 25/1 with Ladbrokes following that last victory, and we’re backing him each-way to add to that impressive finish.