The European Tour finale, the DP World Tour Championship is finally upon us as the TOP 60 qualifiers take their place at The Earth Course, Dubai. Well not quite. Ernie Els ,Charl Schwartzel and Sergio Garcia are ineligible having not satisfied the qualifying criteria of playing the required 2/3 Final Series tournaments precluding this one, and therefore will not be here this week. Alex Noren has also withdrawn injured which now leaves just 56 players
Reports suggest that the Greg Norman Earth course has undergone some work on the rough in the past 12 months in an attempt to make scoring a bit more difficult but it appears that big hitters do have a distinct advantage here. Defending champion, Rory McIlroy clearly loves this course and recent efforts suggest he may just be the one they all have to beat this week. For me though, there was a lot to like about the weekend effort in Belek from the reigning US Open Champion and I felt had he made his 8 footer for birdie on 10 last Sunday, Justin Rose could have put the pressure on eventual winner Victor Dubuisson sooner than our selection, Jamie Donaldson did. I'm very tempted to side with Rose this week but @ 7/1, I can't convince myself that he is the favourite over Rory, Henrik Stenson, Ian Poulter and Jamie Donaldson. Kaymer @ 18/1 is just a tad short, whilst I'm a fan and think he's very close, its difficult to back the German at such a price, when he hasn't won for awhile, albeit in this reduced field. Lee Westwood is out of sorts but likes this course as too does struggling Luke Donald, whereas Graeme McDowell clearly has no affinity for the lengthy Earth Course. Bernd Wiesberger is an intriguing player, a player I am always relunctant to back. In fairness to him though, he has been quite solid this season but 30/1 is too short I think (he could be the surprise packet this week).
The first player I'm backing this week though is South African, Louis Oosthuizen @ 50/1. I added Louis on my preview for this weeks Golfing Weekly edition @ 33s. I was happy with that price but I'm excited about the 50s available with StanJames . The South African has recently returned to the action following injury and has played in 3 events since that return and whilst he never got going in Turkey, he will be anxious to get out there in Dubai on a course that he has produced finishes of 5-6-13-12 the past 4 years. The three recent tournaments should act as a "warm-up" and make him more "competition-ready" and he's well worth backing at this price on a course that he likes. Looking at the field, apart from the 5 market leaders mentioned above, there is no stand out player in form other than perhaps last weeks winner, Dubuisson, and Ross Fisher. The Frenchman can be excused if he parties following his maiden win and Ross is just a tad short for me here. Louis is value and if he does get going and gets amongst the leaders early I fully expect him to find his rhythm and contend.
My second selection is a player I don't expect to win but a player that could give us a run for our money on a course that has been good to him in the past. Not many expected last week's winner to prevail over Tiger Woods, Henrik Stenson, Justin Rose et all and who's to say we wont see another "outsider" walk off with the tournament come Sunday here. Thailand's Tongchai Jaidee is certainly a player I don't have on my shortlist very often never mind my final staking plan but there is some value in backing him @ 70/1 with Bet365. Jaidee sits 7th in the R2D standings currently and could still win the Race to Dubai following his 7 TOP 10s this year. He was T7th last year and finished 8th the previous year so will be confident and should give us a run for our money.
I'm also going to add Scott Jamieson into my staking plan this week at 125/1 with Titanbet. 4 TOP 25 finishes the past 5 tournaments suggests that the Scotsman is playing well. He is! Afterall, he went oh so close to the first ever 59 on tour in Portugal last month. He arrives here for his 3rd straight year, finished in the TOP 15 12 months ago and is worth a pop at these odds. He did lose form during the summer but seems to have regained it and I'm happy to be on board.So thats my plan for this week. A total of 4 pts (units) being staked. I was tempted to put the 4 all on Rose @ 8/1 to win, but sure where's the fun in that? If one of my three finish ahead of the Englishman I'm sure we'll be off to the cashier. Good luck !
TIP 1: 1 pt e/w Louis Oosthuizen @ 50/1 StanJames or Betpack
TIP 2: 0.5 pts e/w Tongchai Jaidee @ 70/1 Bet365
TIP 3: 0.5 pts e/w Scott Jamieson @ 125/1 Titanbet.
TitanBet Golf
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