CIMB Asia Pacific Classic preview

The regular PGA Tour season may be finished, but this week it’s the PGA and Asian Tour’s co-sanctioned CIMB Asia Pacific Classic in Malaysia. Ben Crane defends the title at the Mines Resort at Selangor.

Ben Crane defends
Fergus Bisset
By Fergus Bisset
published

Lowdown: The regular PGA Tour season may be finished, but this week it's the PGA and Asian Tour's co-sanctioned CIMB Asia Pacific Classic in Malaysia. Ben Crane defends the title at the Mines Resort at Selangor. This event is co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour and the Asian Tour. It features a limited field of just 48 players and no halfway cut. The field is made up of - the top 30 available players from the PGA Tour's final FedEx Cup standings, the top 10 available players from the Asian Tour money list and eight sponsors' exemptions. In last year's inaugural tournament, Ben Crane took the title by a single stroke from England's Brian Davis. Crane eagled the 15th hole then birdied the last to take the title in regulation play by the narrowest of margins. The course at the Mines Resort is by Robert Trent Jones Jnr and is constructed on a former tin mine. It was opened for play in 1993. A huge, 150-acre, lake is a key feature and it comes into play on a number of holes. The Mines Resort and Golf Club is no stranger to hosting significant competition. It was the venue for the World Cup of 1999, the women's World Cup in 2000 and the Malaysian Open in 2003. Venue: The Mines Resort & Golf Club, Selangor, Malaysia Date: Oct 27-30 Course stats: par 71, 6,966 yards Purse: $6,100,000 Winner: $1,300,000 Defending Champion: Ben Crane (-18) TV Coverage: Thursday 27 - Live on Sky Sports 1 from 6am Friday 28 - Live on Sky Sports 1 from 6am Saturday 29 - Live on Sky Sports 1 from 6am Sunday 30 - Live on Sky Sports 1 from 6am Player Watch: Ben Crane - You've got to fancy the defending champion's chances again this week. He won on his last outing at the McGladrey Classic and, since then, his wife has given birth to their third child.

Camilo Villegas - Just the sort of event the Colombian might sneak up and win. He's had a poor season in general but things have looked much more promising recently - he managed to secure three top-10s in his last four starts on the PGA Tour.

Jeev Milkha Singh - Singh may have an unorthodox technique but he's one of the Asian and European Tour's most consistent competitors. He'd love to finish the year strongly.

Key hole: 17th. A par 5 of just 523 yards, this is a hole that's reachable in two for most, if not all, of the players in the field. The drive must find a plateau fairway then the approach must also fly all the way to an elevated green. There should be some eagles on this one.

Where next? European Tour: Andalucia Masters preview

Fergus Bisset
Fergus Bisset
Contributing Editor

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly. 

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?

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