Free betting tips: Ben Coley's OHL Classic preview

After the emergence of another bright young superstar in Las Vegas on Sunday, the PGA Tour takes shelter in Mexico where there's an altogether more old-fashioned feel to the OHL Classic.

This is the event which was won by 50-year-old Fred Funk when making its debut 10 years ago and while there have been exceptions, there's little doubt that experience counts for plenty at El Camaleon, a tree-lined par 71 which offers up plenty of birdies but persistently threatens to ruin scorecards.

Brian Gay, Cameron Beckman, Mark Wilson, Charley Hoffman, Graeme McDowell and 2016 champion Pat Perez could all be described as grizzled veterans when winning here by the sea and aside from Hoffman, have made careers on keeping the ball in play off the tee, hitting conservative targets and taking opportunities when they arrive.

Even the youngsters to have conquered the course - John Huh and Harris English - are not typical of their contemporaries who now dominate the sport. Huh is a short, straight hitter and English a throwback in both appearance and skillset, whose best performances on the PGA Tour have come at similar venues.

So, the search for this week's winner should focus on those who are older and fit the description above, or youngsters who might have more to their games than we'd perhaps assume.

Rickie Fowler heads the betting owing to his reputation as a world-class player, but wins don't come as often as they might on this side of the Atlantic and 10/1 makes limited appeal. We've seen a string of classy, obvious winners lately and Fowler has the game for this course, but off a break and at the price he simply can't be supported pre-tournament; rather, he's one to keep an eye on as things develop.

Perez is in the form of his life but 14/1 about a player of his standing in the game looks far too short and more interesting is Patrick Reed, who will be desperate to end a winless run which stretches well beyond a year now and hasn't been playing badly of late, even if he did shoot 82 in the third round of the HSBC Champions last time out.

But on this golf course, under these conditions, I'd rather side with someone who recognises that this is a rare chance to shine and that man might be Ryan Moore.

The Seattle swinger will probably never be considered elite-level, even if he did hole the winning put at the Ryder Cup little more than a year ago.

That's because he doesn't do anything exceptionally, instead building a successful career on solid, reliable but not altogether powerful driving, accurate approach play and a putter which, like most, runs hot and cold but is good enough to keep the bank balance ticking over.

Moore's recent form has been appropriately unspectacular, but it's just three starts since he was in contention through 54 holes of a FedEx Cup Playoff event, before a solid pipe-opener in the Safeway Open where again he started well but couldn't recover from a triple-bogey early in his final round.

True, we might've expected more last week in Vegas given his ties to that event, but conditions were not as they usually are and I'd tend to treat the form with a degree of caution, even if the Shriners did ultimately produce a world-class champion.

Moore now arrives in Mexico for just his second crack at a course which will suit, his first ending in a solid top-30 after a busy stretch which included the third of his five PGA Tour wins. That he started well but faded tells us he liked the venue but perhaps ran out of steam.

Significantly, two of those five victories have come in the CIMB Classic, won by Perez last month and played on similar greens which take some adjusting to for most. Moore took to them immediately, winning the title in 2013 before defending it a year later, and that offers great encouragement for his return to El Camaleon.

Victories at the Wyndham and the John Deere further underline what type of player Moore is and with five wins in the locker he is much more reliable in the mix than some of those ahead of him in the betting. On a layout like this, I can't fathom why Jason Kokrak or Luke List would be considered more likely candidates and anything in the region of 40/1 looks like cracking business.

At a much bigger price, the first player to spring to mind this week was Peter Malnati and the case for him looks pretty solid as you delve deeper.

Malnati's game is built around finding fairways, staying out of trouble and allowing his putter to sing and it's taken him to a pair of victories on the Web.com Tour, including one in Brazil, plus a PGA Tour breakthrough at around this time two years ago as he took the Sanderson Farms Championship by a shot.

When things go wrong - i.e. the putter runs cold or his accuracy levels dip - Malnati struggles to keep up at this level because he has one of those old-fashioned games we're looking for, which means he can't rely on brute force to overpower a course or get him out of trouble.

However, since the PLAYERS back in May he's made every one of 13 cuts which represents some of the most solid play of his career, and opening 67s in each of his last two starts hint that he could be poised to strike at El Camaleon, where he's been 15th and 10th in just three visits so far.

Perhaps significantly, Malnati managed to finish 32nd in Vegas last week despite a rare poor week with the putter. He got by on accuracy (second in the field) and grinding in difficult conditions and that can only add to his confidence levels, which appear to be soaring.

"My iron play stood out as being particularly strong, and that has me excited moving forward," he wrote in a blog titled 'Some Great Golf In Vegas' on Monday.

"Despite inconsistent driving of the ball for the first three rounds and a very cold putter all week, I posted two under par for the week in some tricky conditions and finished in a tie for 32nd place.

"Though I know better than to play the "what if…" game, I truly am very encouraged to think about what a great week it could have been if my usual strengths had matched up with my improved iron play.

"I know that I am a great putter, and though that part of my game hasn't been shining over the past two tournaments, I'm confident that I will putt well more often than not. That means "Lots" of great golf is in the near future."

Malnati is right - he will putt well more often than not - and if he does so on these greens which we know he likes, there's no reason he can't contend. His best performances away from that win in the SFC have come on correlating courses, such as TPC Southwind where both Gay and English have also won, and he looks to have outstanding each-way prospects.

Back towards the head of the market, I can't resist taking 50/1 about Charles Howell III.

Of course, any bet on Howell comes with an obvious caveat: he has won twice on the PGA Tour, despite being a fixture for 15 or so years now, and win-only backers have long since given up the ghost.

But on the right track and under suitable conditions, I'm firmly of the belief that Howell absolutely can and probably will add to his tally, his record at El Camaleon confirming that this is one such opportunity.

Howell has made the cut in seven of his eight visits, bagging six top-20 finishes, and on all seven occasions has been inside the top 30 for ball-striking. He loves being able to work the ball off the tee, not to have to rely on the driver which can occasionally bring a ruinous error onto his scorecard.

That was the case in the HSBC Champions last time, where he was flying until the final hole of round two, but back-to-back top-20 finishes to start the season in Asia put him in a great spot to build towards that Masters return this Georgia native so desperately craves.

I like that fact that Howell is just about the best in this field for bogey avoidance over the last five or so years, significant given that Perez made just four all week en route to his success, and having exuded control with his irons last time I think he could be a massive factor here.

Perez, McDowell and Hoffman all returned to winning form in the OHL Classic after, by their own individual standards, lengthy winless runs. Howell's extends right back to 2007 but along with the Sony Open, this is a great event in which to put a stop to it.

There's some temptation to add Kevin Streelman to the staking plan at a similar price, but this fairways-and-greens merchant putted progressively worse as the week developed in Vegas and may once again find a way to finish just outside the frame with a 63 or 64 thrown in along the way.

Zach Johnson makes his debut at a course made for him and does so in decent form, while Anirban Lahiri's record at the CIMB, encouraging debut here and solid Presidents Cup performance make him a factor, albeit one whose price appears on the skinny side.

Instead, I'll stick with some experienced old hands to complete the staking plan, starting with Brian Stuard.

A shock winner of the Zurich Classic two years ago, Stuard's game is in fact far better suited to this course, where he's made four cuts from four and twice finished runner-up.

That record alone makes him interesting at 150/1, then throw in a top-five finish two starts ago, plus the fact he's led the field in driving accuracy two weeks running, and he looks to be heading to Mexico at a very good time.

Stuard has gone well in the RBC Heritage, won by Gay and McDowell, as well as the Sony Open, securing a huge chunk of his career earnings at this small pool of similar events. It would be no surprise if he pops again up here.

Finally, McDowell looks a bet to me at 50/1.

We were on the former US Open champion at a similar odds when he won here, and after a good defence (24th after an opening 75) it's somewhat surprising that he's in the same sort of price bracket.

Of course, the fact that Fowler and Reed are in the field is noteworthy but it's hardly deep beyond those two, and unlike 2015 we're not relying on a hunch that the course will suit McDowell - we absolutely know that it does.

Last week he relished tougher-than-usual conditions to finish 10th at a far less suitable venue and while 2017 hasn't gone to plan, there have been other positives including a good effort in the high-class Dunhill Links last month.

McDowell's PGA Tour highlights all point towards his prospects here - that coastal US Open win, his play-off victory in the RBC Heritage, even a good effort on similar greens at Kiawah Island five years ago - and there's every chance history could repeat as he again heads to Mexico in search of a renaissance.

Others of note include Sung Kang, who has two top-three finishes in three starts and goes well here, and recent winner Ryan Armour, whose form continued to Vegas. If he can hold onto it for four more rounds there's no reason he can't go close at a course made for his straight and steady talents.

Recommended bets: OHL Classic

1pt e.w. Ryan Moore at 40/1 (1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7) - ideally suited to this course; knows how to win

1pt e.w. Peter Malnati at 150/1 (1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7) - two good efforts here and playing really well

1pt e.w. Charles Howell at 50/1 (1/4 1,2,3,4,5) - another whose game is made for the OHL Classic

1pt e.w. Brian Stuard at 150/1 (1/4 1,2,3,4,5) - twice a runner-up here; fourth two starts ago

1pt e.w. Graeme McDowell at 50/1 (1/4 1,2,3,4,5) - former champion primed to double up

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Related links

• Sky Bet's OHL Classic odds
• Ben Coley's Nedbank Challenge tips

Posted at 1115 GMT on 07/11/17.