CIMB Classic Preview

IT HARDLY seems as if it has been away (that is precisely because it hasn't), and already we are looking forward to the second tournament of the 2016-17 PGA Tour season, the CIMB Classic, to be played at TPC Kuala Lumpur.

The tournament was won last year by Justin Thomas, was his first and came just seven days after Emiliano Grillo, of Argentina, secured his maiden victory at the Safeway. Thomas can count himself exceedingly unlucky not to have made Davis Love III's American Ryder Cup team. During the season-ending Tour Championship, he said that he was bursting to play at Hazeltine, and many good judges felt that he had done more than enough to justify inclusion. But it was not to be, and so Thomas begins a new season with different goals.

He is a contemporary of Jordan Spieth, and while the double major champion struggled for much of this year, Thomas made progress at a steady rate. He is a superb golfer whose only weakness is his temperament - he is one of a growing number of young players who seem prepared to accept nothing less than perfection of themselves. And as we all know, golf is not that kind of a game. When Thomas realises that, his progress could be spectacular.

Two other players who should have been at Hazeltine will also be in Kuala Lumpur. Russell Knox, of Scotland, was overlooked as a wild-card despite two victories and a 10th-place finish in the FedEx Cup, and Paul Casey didn't make the team because, incredibly, he is not a member of the European Tour and thus was unable to play the minimum number of tournaments required to play for Europe. He finished the season in sensational fashion and has started this one the same way. Will somebody at European Tour headquarters at Wentworth please find a way of getting Casey back on board? It is insane that one of the best golfers on the planet should have to sit out events such as the Ryder Cup when he clearly has so much still to offer.

Knox has only himself to blame. Had he joined the European Tour a couple of months earlier than he did then he would have comfortably made the team. But he wasn't happy to be overlooked, and goes into the new campaign feeling that he has a point to prove. He is a cussed character and may well win again very soon.

I also like the chances of Ryan Moore. The likeable American has become one of the most consistent performers on the PGA Tour. He takes everything in his stride, shrugs off the bad breaks and just gets on with the task in hand. He has also won here twice before - in 2014 and 2015 - and was 10th last year, so clearly feels comfortable. For the record the 2010 winner was Ben Crane, it was won in 2011 by Bo Van pelt (remember him?) and by Nick Watney in 2012. There was no CIMB Classic in 2013.

But the big attraction, and the tournament favourite, is surely Patrick Reed, who enjoyed 11 top-10 finishes in 28 starts, including a victory at The Barclays at Bethpage Black. Reed was the star of the American team, fist-pumping way through three days of intense competition. This guy loves pressure and is surely destined to win a couple of majors before too long. He possesses that Tiger Woods-style ability of being able to will the ball into the hole when he most needs a putt to drop. 

Early in his career he offended a lot of people by saying that he regarded himself as a top-five player, but he has won them over in the past couple of years and is now not far away from officially being a top-four player (his world ranking stands at seven). He has the air of a man who doesn't care what people think of him but Reed is a sensitive soul and is never happier than when a packed grandstand is cheering him to the rafters.

There are two golfers you should keep an eye on - Hideki Matsuyama and Rafa Cabrera-Bello. Matsuyama is an intriguing case. The Japanese golfer with the pause at the top of his backswing seems to have the lot and although he earned an awful lot of money last season, he didn't kick on in the way many have been expecting him to do for the past couple of years. Hopefully, carrying the weight of expectation of the whole of Japan on his shoulders is not having an adverse effect on his game, although he must know that if can win a major (and he is good enough to do so) then he will become a hero in his homeland. He is a personable young man and my only worry concern for him is that he lacks the killer instinct that serious winners all possess.

Cabrera-Bello is having the year of his life. He has always had a good swing and solid technique but in 2016 he has developed a huge amount of self-belief and seems to play well every time he competes. His year has been similar to Reed's with one big difference - the Spaniard is without a victory. He would love to win in the United States and it surely can't be long before he does.

Gavin Green, who represented Malaysia in the Olympics in Rio in August, defeated Ben Leong in the SapuraKencana National Classic at TPC Kuala Lumpur to secure a spot in the field. Green, 22, was a three-time All-American at the University of New Mexico and played in the Web.com Q-School before making his PGA Tour debut at the Safeway Open last week.

To Win: Patrick Reed. Will be feeling as high as a kite

Each Way: Paul Casey. I want some of what he's having

Each Way: Rafa Cabrera-Bello. Spaniard gets better and better

Fantasy Picks

Patrick Reed. Great to watch when in full flow

Paul Casey. Brilliant driver of the ball

Rafa Cabrera-Bello. Ready for a victory

Hideki Matsuyama. An important season for the Japanese player

Adam Scott. All depends on his putting

Kevin Chappell. Coming off the best season of his career

Sergio Garcia. Putted like an angel at Hazeltine

Justin Thomas. First title defence

Daniel Berger. Like the cut of Berger's jib

Kevin Na. As consistent as they come