The third and final leg of the European Tour’s Desert Swing will take place at the Emirates Golf Club in Dubai this weekend with the Omega Dubai Desert Classic. This will be the 28 edition of the DDC and while Rory McIlroy will not participate in this year’s event there will be a special guest in the lineup with Tiger Woods set to compete this week. It’s a bit of a surprise as the Phoenix Waste Management will also be going on simultaneously on the PGA Tour. It’s one of the wildest events of the year with one of the biggest crowds of the season. Woods had one of his biggest career highlights when he nailed a hole in one at the classic 16th at the TPC Scottsdale in 2011. At any rate, this week he decided to change course and play on the EPGA Tour. It is possibly related to the fact that fans jeered him at the 16th hole last year and he wanted to avoid that type of situation again as he works through his struggles.
Event
Event Details: Omega Dubai Desert Classic
Category: European
Date: February 2-5
Location: Emirates Golf Club, Dubai, UAE
Tiger will look to improve on a disappointing performance at the Farmers Insurance Open last week and it might do him well to move overseas and compete in a Desert Swing event. There has certainly been some surprise winners in this tournament over the years so maybe Tiger has a better shot to win than his long sports betting odds indicate.
Past Five Winners
2016: Danny Willett -19
2015: Rory McIlroy -22
2014: Stephen Gallacher -16
2013: Stephen Gallacher -22
2012: Rafael Cabrera-Bello -16
What To Know About The Course
The typically exposed desert track for this week’s event should mean plenty of wind for the second week in a row. Driving Distance isn’t the most important statistic but will matter more than Accuracy off the tee this week. Greens In Regulation should be the key statistic to look out for even despite that Willett ranked 19th in that category a year ago. Eight of the last 11 winners have ranked inside the top-five for GIR.
The Field
While Tiger’s entry in to this tournament will be cause for even more buzz surrounding the Omega Dubai Desert Classic he is listed at only +3300 to win outright. Meanwhile, Henrik Stenson is the sports betting favorite to win this week at +700 odds followed by Rafael Cabrera Bello at +1800 and the tandem of Tyrell Hatton and Sergio Garcia at +2000 odds. The defending champion Danny Willett is listed at +3500 odds and will join Cabrera Bello as the only two champions from the last five years at this tournament to compete in this year’s DDC.
A Good Matchup To Bet: Bernd Wiesberger over Sergio Garcia
As tempted as we are to take a shot on Tiger this week the smart money is on Wiesberger outperforming Garcia in a good matchup to bet. Wiesberger has placed in the top-16 in each of his last three appearances at this tournament including a fourth place finish in 2014 and he could be due for another strong outing. Meanwhile, Garcia has appeared at this tournament in alternate years but he hasn’t finished higher than 17th in his last three appearances here including a missed cut in his last appearance. Garcia should do better than missing the cut this week but we like Wiesberger in the head-to-head betting matchup.
Top-Five Pick: Henrik Stenson
There is a reason why Stenson is listed as the sports betting favorite to win this event outright as his dominance in the desert makes him a potential lock to finish in the top-five this week. The reigning Open champion and world No. 4 is attempting to double here a decade after he won this tournament the first time and while the value isn’t incredible the fact that he should dominate makes us feel more than comfortable making him this top-five pick for the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.
Omega Dubai Desert Classic Tee Times
1st tee
10:15 p.m. Niclas Fasth, Nino Bertasio, Younes El Hassani
10:25 p.m. Marc Warren, Pelle Edberg, Renato Paratore
10:35 p.m. Sébastien Gros, Benjamin Hebert, Chris Hanson
10:45 p.m. Felipe Aguilar, George Coetzee, Jorge Campillo
10:55 p.m. Bernd Ritthammer, David Lipsky, Mike Lorenzo-Vera
11:05 p.m. Alvaro Quiros, Johan Carlsson, Justin Walters
11:15 p.m. Romain Wattel, Magnus A. Carlsson, Daniel Brooks
11:25 p.m. Richie Ramsay, Peter Uihlein, Curtis Luck (Am)
11:35 p.m. Lee Slattery, Alexander Knappe, Maximilian Kieffer
11:45 p.m. Simon Dyson, Chris Paisley, Nacho Elvira
11:55 p.m. Darren Fichardt, Darius Van Driel, Gavin Green
2:35 a.m. Grégory Bourdy, Bradley Dredge, Victor Dubuisson
2:45 a.m. Raphaël Jacquelin, Oliver Fisher, Jason Scrivener
2:55 a.m. David Horsey, Scott Hend, Pablo Larrazabal
3:05 a.m. Stephen Gallacher, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Sam Brazel
3:15 a.m. Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer, Jeunghun Wang
3:25 a.m. Andy Sullivan, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Tommy Fleetwood
3:35 a.m. Thorbjørn Olesen, Chris Wood, Bernd Wiesberger
3:45 a.m. Ross Fisher, Graeme Storm, Jaco Van Zyl
3:55 a.m. Joakim Lagergren, Andrew Dodt, Haotong Li
4:05 a.m. Robert Karlsson, Thomas Aiken, Trevor Immelman
4:15 a.m. Robert Rock, Julien Qeusne, Dominic Foos
10th tee
10:15 p.m. Wade Ormsby, Callum Shinkwin, Nathan Kimsey
10:25 p.m. Daniel Im, David Drysdale, Fabrizio Zanotti
10:35 p.m. David Lingmerth, Thomas Bjorn, Darren Clarke
10:45 p.m. Miguel Angel Jimenez, Richard Bland, Joost Luiten
10:55 p.m. Graeme McDowell, Ian Poulter, Thomas Pieters
11:05 p.m. Tyrrell Hatton, Henrik Stenson, Sergio Garcia
11:15 p.m. Danny Willett, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Tiger Woods
11:25 p.m. Thongchai Jaidee, Brandon Stone, José María Olazabal
11:35 p.m. S.S.P Chawrasia, Anirban Lahiri, Rayhan Thomas (Am)
11:45 p.m. Grégory Havret, Zane Scotland, Lasse Jensen
11:55 p.m. Prom Meesawat, Matthew Southgate, Craig Hinton
2:35 a.m. Rikard Karlberg, Matteo Mannassero, Anthony Wall
2:45 a.m. Adrian Otaegui, Scott Jamieson, Jordan Smith
2:55 a.m. Jamie Donaldson, Paul Dunne, Paul Waring
3:05 a.m. Alejandro Canizares, Soomin Lee, David Howell
3:15 a.m. Lucas Bjerregaard, Thomas Detry, Mikko Ilonen
3:25 a.m. Richard Green, Gary Stal, Nathan Holman
3:35 a.m. James Morrison, Paul Peterson, Ashun Wu
3:45 a.m. Alexander Levy, Kristoffer Broberg, Haydn Porteous
3:55 a.m. Nicolas Colsaerts, Marcel Siem, Hennie Otto
4:05 a.m. Eduardo DE La Riva, Paul Lawrie, Luke Joy
4:15 a.m. Ricardo Gouveia, Peter Hanson, Ahmed Marjan
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