The European Tour will shift to Dubai and the Jumeirah Golf Estates for the DP World Tour Championship this week. It will be the third and final event of the Race to Dubai’s three-event Final Series and it will determine who wins the Race to Dubai. The field for this week’s event will be limited to the top-60 in the standings. The European Tour has pushed hard to try to replicate the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup with its Race to Dubai and it has been successful so far with the R2D wrapping up in style this weekend. Four of the seven winners of this tournament to date have also won the Race to Dubai so there should be plenty of drama and entertainment.
Event
Event Details: DP World Tour Championship
Category: European
Date: November 17-20
Location: The Earth Course, Jumeirah Golf Estates, Dubai, UAE
It’s worth pointing out that Rory McIlroy needs a win and some help this week in order to win the R2D, even though he didn’t play in the first two Final Seires events in Turkey or in South Africa. McIlroy cited security concerns for his decision not to play in Turkey as the country has been in the midst of plenty of turmoil over the last year. However, he had no excuse last week and it will be very interesting to see how he performs after a couple of weeks to rest and prepare for this tournament.
Past Five Winners
2015: Rory McIlroy -23
2014: Henrik Stenson -16
2013: Henrik Stenson -25
2012: Rory McIlroy -23
2011: Alvaro Quiros -19
What To Know About The Course
The Earth Course in Dubai is extremely long and since the fairways are fairly generous it should be no surprise that Driving Distance is among the biggest keys to success this weekend. Only one of the previous six winners at this tournament finished outside of the top-eight in Driving Distance so it’s worth keeping a close eye on that statistic this weekend. Greens In Regulation had been another key stat up until McIlroy finished 25th in that category when he won here a year ago so keep an eye out for GIR as a statistic worth watching closely. Putting Average is always important and that will be the case again this week at the Earth Course. Take a look at the stats section on the PGA Tour’s website to get a better idea of who leads in these categories.
The Field
McIlroy will headline this year’s field as the defending champion and sports betting favorite to win the event outright at +400 odds. However, he will have some tough competition with Henrik Stenson, Alex Noren and Branden Grace among those expected to challenge for the outright wins. Noren has been absolutely on fire while Stenson won this event in 2013 and in 2014. Meanwhile, Rafael Cabrera Bello is an interesting long shot at +4100 right now after winning this event in 2012 and then registering a runner-up finish here a year ago.
A Good Matchup To Bet: Alex Noren over Branden Grace
It would be hard to bet against McIlroy or Stenson given their history at this event but one golfer trending in the right direction over the past few weeks is Noren and there is decent value betting him to beat out Grace. Noren has all of the tools to deliver a strong performance this week and if he carries over the outstanding form he put on display when he won the Nedbank Golf Challenge last week then he could contend for the outright victory this week as a strong pick in the head-to-head betting matchup with Grace.
Top-Five Pick: Rory McIlroy
While the value isn’t outstanding, it’s hard to argue against McIlroy as an absolute lock to win this event. He has already clinched first place twice at this event before and he is well rested and focused after taking the last two weeks off. He might not net you the best value but McIlroy is worth investing in as a strong pick to finish in the top-five and to win outright at the DP World Tour Championship this week.
Top 10 Odds To Win The DP World Tour Championship
Rory McIlroy +305
Henrik Stenson +550
Alex Noren +1550
Branden Grace +1850
Andy Sullivan +2050
Sergio Garcia +2250
Bernd Weisberger +2250
Francesco Molinari +2550
Louis Oosthuizen +2550
Ross Fisher +2850
