Since The Start Of February

The DP World Tour returns today for the first tournament of the Asian Swing at the Hainan Classic in China.


Having made its tour bow 12 months back, a second course has actually been presented, as well as amateur players, but proficiency off the tee must still be a big possession for those wanting to build on strong starts to the year.


Ian Wilkerson's Hainan Classic predictions


Angel Ayora
3pts each-way 9-1 Coral, Ladbrokes


Nathan Kimsey
1pt each-way 22-1 bet365



1pt each-way 30-1 bet365, BoyleSports


Ian Wilkerson's Hainan Classic preview


Top pointer


Angel Ayora 9-1


Just one player on the planet's top 100, South Africa's Thriston Lawrence, will be at today's Hainan Classic, however Angel Ayora is hovering just below that mark and he could take his possibility after a series of strong performances.


The Spaniard looks a class above this sort of business and while he has yet to break his DP World Tour duck, his consistency suggests it is just a matter of time.


He was seventh at the Italian Open in June, and in his next 24 tournaments, he has 11 top-ten finishes, which is standout kind at this level, and figures of 5-8-9-18 in his last four tournaments recommend he is knocking on the door.


Ayora did not play at Mission Hills last year when Marco Penge came out on top, but the stats recommend he might be an excellent fit.


Penge was third in stroke-gained off the tee and eighth on method, so with Ayora ranked fifth and ninth in those metrics this year, the similarities are clear.


He hit a 64 in his opening round last time at the Joburg Open, where his 18th may be seen as a slight frustration, but he looks fully equipped to recuperate.


With his technique abilities maybe being more important on the second course, the Vintage, offering a higher test of precision, don't be shocked if he comes forward and lastly gets over the line.


Next best bet


Nathan Kimsey 22-1


Nathan Kimsey is another gamer who heads into fight in great kind, although his improvement has actually been more marked because he recuperated from a pretty depressing 2025.


However, he got his act together to get through certifying school and has actually been taking advantage of his chances.


Since the start of February, he has actually ended up ninth in Bahrain, 5th in Kenya, ninth at the South African Open and 12th in Joburg, so confidence must not be an issue.


He makes his place debut but the gamer who is ranked 13th in the strokes-gained off-the-tee charts could find the assessment to his preference.


Other choice


Grant Forrest 30-1


Grant Forrest is one gamer who has experience of this competition, albeit when all four rounds were played on the Blackstone Course, having actually finished 23rd in 2015 and he need to be confident that he can construct on that.


The 32-year-old from Livingston won August's Nexo Championship and could go well fairly fresh.


He was 15th in Qatar in early February, having actually been seventh the week before in Bahrain, so his video game seems in a good location.


Key stats for Hainan Classic


♦ Marco Penge headed the greens-in-regulation statistics on his method to success in 2015
♦ Just one Chinese gamer completed in the top 30 in 2025
♦ Five of the leading 8 surfaces in 2015 were also in the top eight for strokes-gained putting, including the winner


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Course guide for the Hainan Classic


Course Blackstone and Vintage Courses, Mission Hills, Hainan, China

Cash prize $2.55 m ($ 433,500 to the winner).

Length Blackstone - 7,637 backyards, Vintage - 7,331 lawns.

Par Both 72 - four par-fives, 10 par-fours, 4 par-threes.

Field 120 The cut Top half certify for last two rounds.

Highest-ranked gamers in field (world ranking in brackets) Thriston Lawrence (89 ), Angel Ayora (101 ), Andy Sullivan (110 ), Nacho Elvira (121 ), Dan Bradbury (125 ).

Course records - 18 holes - Blackstone 65 Marco Penge, Bowen Xiao, Conor Purcell (2025 ).

When to wager By 11.20 pm on Wednesday.

Time difference Hainan is eight hours ahead of the UK and Ireland.

Course type Both parkland.

Course overview This is the 2nd time Mission Hills has actually hosted the Hainan Classic and while all four rounds were used the Blackstone Course last year, the Vintage Course will be used also this time, so each of the 120 gamers will play both courses in the opening two days. This change has actually allowed amateur gamers to be included and decreased the expert field to 120. The Blackstone has wide fairways and is the substantially longer of the 2, while the Vintage represents a various challenge with lots of doglegs and blind shots to be negotiated on the tree-lined track that is greatly bunkered.

Story of in 2015 Marco Penge kept his cool with a closing 67 to claim his first DP World Tour success by a three-shot margin.

Weather projection All four days are expected to be dry with temperature levels peaking at about 30C.

Kind of gamer fit to the obstacle Penge drove and putted well to come out on top last year and length off the tee is generally a crucial skill on Chinese courses. The Vintage is a bit more fiddly, however will just need to be browsed when.

Key quality Power.


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