DP World Tour Preview – November 15th-18th
The exciting end to the European PGA season is here with the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai. This is the culmination of the Race to Dubai for the top 60 point-earners on the European tour from across the course of the season (including the playoffs of the Turkish Airlines and the Nedbank Golf Challenge).
The tournament once again is being held out in the Middle East at the Earth Course at Jumeirah in Dubai. It is also the final one of eight tournaments in the Rolex Series, which are the top premium events on the European PGA. There is also the small race between Tommy Fleetwood and Francesco Molinari to end the season as World Number One.
Rory McIlroy, a two-time winner of the tournament, is the 9/1 outright favourite to win the DP World Tour Championship 2018* (betting odds taken on November 12th, 2018 at 6:11 pm).
DP World Tour Championship Winner Odds*
Rory McIlroy 9/1
Sergio Garcia 11/1
Jon Rahm 12/1
Tommy Fleetwood 14/1
Xzn Der Schauffele 16/1
Tyrrell Hatton 16/1
Francesco Molinari 16/1
Haotong Li 18/1
Patrick Reed 22/1
Thorbjorn Olesen 22/1
Henrik Stenson 22/1
Rafael Cabrera Bello 25/1
Lee Westwood 28/1
Alex Noren 33/1
Shane Lowry 33/1
35/1 bar
* (betting odds taken from bet365 on November 12th, 2018 at 6:11 pm)
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Table of Contents
Moliwood battle for World #1
After their tremendous and profitable teamwork at the Ryder Cup this year, Tommy Fleetwood and Francesco Molinari will go head to head this week in the race to be crowned Europe’s number one. Fleetwood is the one with more pressure on his shoulders as he needs to come out and collect the win to try and overturn over a 1 million points deficit to the Italian.
Fleetwood won the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship this year (title defence) with seven other top ten finishes across the course of the season. As for Molinari, he has had a career season without a shadow of a doubt. He won The Open Championship to claim the first Major title of his career and then he also landed his first-ever Rolex Series title with a win a the BMW PGA Championship.
Fleetwood is going as 14/1 third favourite with Molinari just behind at 16/1* (betting odds taken on November 12th, 2018 at 6:11 pm). Looking at current form, it has been Molinari who has been dropping the most, probably just relaxing in intensity after such a strong and emotional season. Fleetwood has four straight top ten finishes heading to Dubai.
Defending Champion
Jon Rahm is the reigning champion of the DP World Tour Championship. He has some handy, solid from behind as well. Rahm has won on the European Tour just the once this season (the Open de Espana) and his best recent effort was an eleventh place finish at the Tour Championship at Eastlake back at the end of September. The Spaniard took a 4th place finish at both the Masters and the PGA Championship this year so he can turn it on in the big events. Henrik Stenson is the only player to have managed a DP World Tour Championship title defence though and Rahm is short at 12/1 odds* (betting odds taken on November 12th, 2018 at 6:11 pm).
Rory McIlroy
The Northern Ireland star is just one of two players to have won the DP World Tour Championship twice (Henrik Stenson). His victories at the tournament came in 2012 and 2015 and he also finished runner-up to Stenson in 2014. From 26 previous tournaments played out in the Middle East, including the DP World Tour Championship, he has carded 23 top three finishes. He has played this tournament eight times before and just once finished outside of the top ten. McIlroy is even money to land a top ten finish again* (betting odds taken on November 12th, 2018 at 6:11 pm).
Worth a look
Sweden’s Henrik Stenson has a good affinity with the course after his back to back wins in 2013 and 2014. He would have to come out of the blue though to turn it on again as he hasn’t been seen since the BMW Championship early September. He is 9/4 odds to get a top ten finish* (betting odds taken on November 12th, 2018 at 6:11 pm).
Another with a nice bit of course history is Tyrrell Hatton who took a second place finish in October at the Alfred Dunhill Links. In three of his four previous visits to the DP World Tour Championship he has landed a top ten finish so has pretty reliable form them and that makes him a decent option to consider here at 16/1 odds* (betting odds taken on November 12th, 2018 at 6:11 pm)
Xander Schauffele just recently landed the title in China at the WGC HSBC Champions tournament to move up to four in the Race to Dubai rankings. The American edged out his compatriot Tony Finau in a playoff to get the win. Hao Tong Li is in some stellar form at the moment with the top five finishes in his last five tournaments (four top tens). He is a good 4/1 odds option to make a run to the top five on the back of that* (betting odds taken on November 12th, 2018 at 6:11 pm).
Schauffele will be making his debut at the Earth Course. Another couple of players with some good recent form includes Lee Westwood who upset the field with a win at the Nedbank Challenge. The Englishman rolled back the years there with a 64 in the final round which fired up him into the top twenty in the Race To Dubai. He won the DP World Tour Championship (along with the Race To Dubai) back in the 2009 inaugural season. That’s two top-five finishes in his last three outings this season.
Lucas Bjerregaard continued his fine season at the Nedbank with an 11th place finish, which built on his fifth at the Turkish Airlines. His one title on the Euro PGA this reason came at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and has three top ten finishes in his last five tournaments. Eddie Pepperell could have some appeal as a longer outside option.
Predictions
It is a good competitive field and the pressure of the situation has to be taken into consideration as well because of the huge prize money that is up for grabs. Rory McIlroy really enjoys playing out in this neck of the woods and can be expected to put in a good showing. Jon Rahm actually looks a pretty decent fit for a title defence here given his form and fit for the course. Tommy Fleetwood has been carrying some steady form too.
We are going to drop down the field a little bit to take in a couple of players. Hao-Tong Li is just running with such a hot hand at the moment that we can’t ignore the 18/1 each way odds on him coming up with a challenge* (betting odds taken on November 12th, 2018 at 6:11 pm).
The other option that we like the look of at longer odds is Lucas Bjerregaard who just keeps churning out positive result after positive result and it is a great fit for a top ten finish at 3/1 odds* (betting odds taken on November 12th, 2018 at 6:11 pm).
