ISPS Handa Championship: Prediction, Tips and Odds

The Gotemba course at the Taiheiyo Club will host and while it is the first time this tournament has been held at the venue, it is one with which many local players will be familiar as it is a mainstay of the Japan Tour.

ISPS Handa Championship betting tips and predictions

Keita Nakajima - 14/1

This is just the second year that the ISPS Handa Championship has been on the DP World Tour schedule and the first time it will be played at the Taiheiyo Club, which boasts one of Japan’s most prestigious courses.

The course will be unfamiliar to many DPWT regulars and although it shares the main characteristics of most Japanese courses in that tight tree-lined fairways need to be found regularly and quality game management is essential, there could be a distinct advantage for home players, many of whom have played regularly in the Taiheiyo Masters, which has been a mainstay of the Japan Tour since 1977.

Redevelopment took place in 2018, but there are many players with bags of experience at the venue to draw upon, while market leaders Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Matthieu Pavon are not only making their debuts there, but have had to make a gruelling trip from South Carolina, where they were playing in last week’s RBC Heritage.

So the main preference is for those playing at home, and the native challenge should be led by former world number one amateur Keita Nakajima, who won the last DP World Tour event, the Indian Open, by four shots a few weeks ago.

He leads the Japan Tour money list this season and has had some decent results at this venue, finishing third in 2020 and 20th in November, a performance he followed with four straight top-five efforts.

Nakajima has a wealth of experience of venues such as this despite being only 23 and he could prove the man to beat in Gotemba.

Takumi Kanaya - 18/1

Nakajima’s fellow countryman Takumi Kanaya also looks set to make his presence felt and also comes into the ISPS Handa on the back of a win following victory on the Japan tour in the Token Homemate Open three weeks ago.

Kanaya’s course record is superior and it is hard to draw a line through his name in calculations when he has already claimed victory at the Taiheiyo Masters in 2019.

He has also been in superb form since then at the venue, finishing fifth in 2020, second in 2021 and third last year, so he knows exactly how to compete at the venue which boasts stunning views of Mount Fuji.

Entertaining DPWT players should be no cause for concern and he has the scope to be a major force in this week’s tournament.

Yannik Paul - 25/1

The European DPWT challenge is typically centred on the usual names who figure highly on tournament markets and Germany’s Yannik Paul can consider himself one of those players.

He is a tidy player and it would not be a surprise if he found this tough, tight test to his liking after he was sixth last year when the tournament was held at the Ishioka Golf Club in Omitana.

Paul is a former Mallorca Open champion and heads into action this week having posted a tenth spot at the Indian Open, so it would not be a huge shock if he managed to get into the frame.

Read more golf betting tips and predictions on site.

ISPS Handa Championship odds

Matthieu Pavon - 12/1
Christiaan Bezuidenhout - 12/1
Keita Nakajima - 14/1
Takumi Kanaya - 18/1
Jordan Smith - 25/1
Yannik Paul - 25/1

View the full market and more odds for the ISPS Handa Championship on site.

This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.