Ian Wilkerson’s Hainan Classic predictions & golf betting tips: ‘He looks a class above this standard of company’

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Hainan Classic date, start time & TV info 

Date Wednesday, March 18-Sunday March 22
Course Mission Hills, Hainan, China
Start time 11.20pm Wednesday

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

Having made its tour bow 12 months ago, a second course has been introduced, as well as amateur players, but proficiency off the tee should still be a big asset for those looking 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

Grant Forrest
1pt each-way 30-1 bet365, BoyleSports

Ian Wilkerson’s Hainan Classic preview

Top tip

Angel Ayora 9-1

Just one player in the world’s top 100, South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence, will be at this week’s Hainan Classic, but Angel Ayora is hovering just below that mark and he could seize his chance after a series of strong performances.

The Spaniard looks a class above this sort of company and while he has yet to break his DP World Tour duck, his consistency suggests it is only 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 form at this level, and figures of 5-8-9-18 in his last four tournaments suggest he is knocking on the door.

Ayora did not play at Mission Hills last year when Marco Penge came out on top, but the statistics suggest he could be a good fit.

Penge was third in stroke-gained off the tee and eighth on approach, 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 viewed as a slight disappointment, but he looks well-equipped to bounce back.

With his approach skills perhaps being more valuable on the second course, the Vintage, providing a greater test of accuracy, don’t be surprised if he comes to the fore and finally gets over the line.

Next best bet

Nathan Kimsey 22-1

Nathan Kimsey is another player who heads into battle in fine form, although his transformation has been more marked since he recovered from a pretty dismal 2025.

However, he got his act together to get through qualifying school and has been making the most of his opportunities.

Since the beginning of February, he has finished ninth in Bahrain, fifth in Kenya, ninth at the South African Open and 12th in Joburg, so confidence should not be an issue.

He makes his venue debut but the player who is ranked 13th in the strokes-gained off-the-tee charts could find the examination to his liking.

Other selection

Grant Forrest 30-1

Grant Forrest is one player who has experience of this tournament, albeit when all four rounds were played on the Blackstone Course, having finished 23rd last year and he should be confident that he can build on that.

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

He was 15th in Qatar in early February, having been seventh the week before in Bahrain, so his game looks to be in a good place.

Key stats for Hainan Classic

♦ Marco Penge headed the greens-in-regulation statistics on his way to victory last year
♦ Just one Chinese player finished in the top 30 in 2025
♦ Five of the top eight finishes last year were also in the top eight for strokes-gained putting, including the winner

Read more top golf tips:

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James Mason’s LIV Golf South Africa predictions & golf betting tips: ‘It would be no surprise to see him bounce back’ 

Course guide for the Hainan Classic

• Course Blackstone and Vintage Courses, Mission Hills, Hainan, China
• Prize money $2.55m ($433,500 to the winner)
• Length Blackstone – 7,637 yards, Vintage – 7,331 yards
• Par Both 72 – four par-fives, ten par-fours, four par-threes
• Field 120 The cut Top half qualify for final two rounds
• Highest-ranked players 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 bet By 11.20pm on Wednesday
• Time difference Hainan is eight hours ahead of the UK and Ireland
• Course type Both parkland
• Course overview This is the second time Mission Hills has hosted the Hainan Classic and while all four rounds were played on the Blackstone Course last year, the Vintage Course will be used as well this time, so each of the 120 players will play both courses in the opening two days. This change has enabled amateur players to be involved and reduced the professional field to 120. The Blackstone has wide fairways and is the significantly longer of the two, while the Vintage represents a different challenge with plenty of doglegs and blind shots to be negotiated on the tree-lined track that is heavily bunkered. 
• Story of last year Marco Penge kept his cool with a closing 67 to claim his first DP World Tour success by a three-shot margin
• Weather forecast All four days are expected to be dry with temperatures peaking at about 30C
• Type of player suited to the challenge Penge drove and putted well to come out on top last year and length off the tee is usually a key skill on Chinese courses. The Vintage is a bit more fiddly, but will only have to be navigated once.
• Key attribute Power

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