Branden Grace won at home last week in South Africa, and now the European Tour finishes off the regular season in Dubai for the DP World Tour Championship. Tommy Fleetwood leads the standings, with Justin Rose, Sergio Garcia, John Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton chasing him in the top five. This event has been played since 2009 and Matthew Fitzpatrick is the defending champion.
Details
Event: DP World Tour Championship
Category: European Tour
Date: November 16th – 19th
Location: Jumeirah Golf Estates, Earth Course, Dubai, UAE
Grace won by a stroke over Scott Jamieson, while Victor Dubuisson, Haotong Li and Martin Kaymer rounded out the top five. Last year in Dubai, Fitzpatrick edged Hatton by a single stroke, while Charl Schwartzel was next. Dubuisson, Nicolas Colsaerts, Soren Kjeldsen, Francesco Molinari and Bernd Wiesberger all finished T-4 in Dubai to close out the European Tour season.
Past Five Winners
2016: Matthew Fitzpatrick -17
2015: Rory McIlroy -21
2014: Henrik Stenson -16
2013: Henrik Stenson -25
2012: Rory McIlroy -23
The Field
With this being the final event of the year on the European Tour, we’re going to see a very strong field here. It’s probably the best field we’ve seen at this event in the nine years of its existence. Tommy Fleetwood leads the standings with 4,235,987 points while Justin Rose sits in second with 3,979,250 and Sergio Garcia is in third at 3,184,582. These are the three players who are still in the running to win the overall prize. Fleetwood is at +2050 because he really doesn’t need to win this event to win the overall prize. A good finish is all he needs.
However, if you take a closer look at who is expected to win here, guys like Jon Rahn and Branden Grace are among the favorites. Tyrell Hatton and Matthew Fitzpatrick are the only two other golfers inside of 16/1.
What To Know About The Course
The Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates opened in 2009 and it is a par-72 that is 7,675 yards, which means it is another course that has some length to it after last week’s trip to South Africa. The par-4 ninth hole was the hardest hole on the course last year and that is 499 yards, while two of the four most difficult holes are holes #16, which is 486 yards, and #7, which is a par-3 that is 195 yards. There is a three-hole stretch from #13 to #15 in which players have to take advantage if they can.
A Good Matchup To Bet: Justin Rose over Sergio Garcia
This could be a close matchup as Rose has won his last two starts at the Turkish Airlines Open and the WGC-HSBC Championship, while Garcia won the Andalucia Valderrama Masters, which is the tournament that he hosted. Rose didn’t play in this event last year as 2016 wasn’t his best year, but he has worked out the kinks and is playing like the one of the best players in the world. Garcia was T-19 here, although he could have finished higher if not for a weekend 74-70. Both are also well rested, so this should be a fun matchup to watch. However, the slightest of edges goes to Rose.
Top-Five Pick: Tyrrell Hatton
Hatton continues to play well after finishing T-19 in South Africa, and he has now finished in the top 20 in his last seven starts. That includes a pair of wins at the Italian Open and the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, and he has two other top-10s as well, He narrowly lost out to Fitzpatrick last year, so he’ll have plenty of motivation and he’ll want to finish the season off with a bang. Hatton might not win this weekend, but he’ll give it everything that he has got and he’ll end up in the top five.
Odds To Win 2017 DP World Championship
Justin Rose +605
Sergio Garcia +1015
Jon Rahm +1150
Branden Grace +1250
Tyrrell Hatton +1550
Matthew Fitzpatrick +1550
Charl Schwartzel +1850
Victor Dubuisson +1850
Francesco Molinari +1850
Tommy Fleetwood +2050
Joost Luiten +2550
Shane Lowry +2550
Martin Kaymer +3250
Ross Fisher +3250
Patrick Reed +3250
Rafael Cabrera Bello +3550
Bernd Wiesberger +3550
Alex Noren +3550
Thorbjorn Olesen +3550
Ian Poulter +4050
Lee Westwood +4050
Soren Kjeldsen +4550
Peter Uihlein +4550
Nicolas Colsaerts +4550
Thomas Pieters +4550
Kiradech Aphibarnrat +5050
Julian Suri +6550
George Coetzee +6550
Eddie Pepperell +6550
Paul Dunne +6550
The 2018 PGA Tour season is underway. Click here to get all of the latest golf betting lines at BetDSI including head-to-head matchups, props and odds to win each PGA, LPGA, EPGA and Champions Tour tournaments!
