DP World Tour Championship golf tips, free bets and latest odds
THE great Ryder Cup Reunion takes place in Dubai this week, with ten of the European stars who steamrollered the Yanks in Rome, in action at the DP World Tour Championship.
Not surprisingly, the top six places in the betting for the European season’s big finale are filled by players who were members of Luke Donald’s triumphant team.
World No 2 Rory McIlroy heads the market at a best priced 5-1 - just ahead of defending champion Jon Rahm at 11-2, and 6-1 shot Viktor Hovland - with Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood and Matt Fitzpatrick all available at 14-1.
Here are five easy steps for beginners.
1. Choose Your Favourite Sportsbook – there are plenty to choose from and most have their own app or mobile site.
2. Make a Deposit – each sportsbook will walk you through how to connect your bank account to their system including providing a list of all the safeguards they have set up to ensure the safety of your transactions.
3. Claim Your Bonuses – most sportsbooks offers bonuses to first time bettors in the form of free bets.
4. Place Your Bet – now it’s time to navigate through your sportsbook’s odds where they will offer a variety of options including outright winners, or top finishing positions, such as top 10 or 20, or even to make the cut. For the event this week each way odds are generally paid on the top eight players.
5. Collect Your Winnings – If you're successful you will be able to withdraw your winnings once the bet is complete. Some bookmakers offer cashout options on certain bets as well, which is worth keeping an eye on.
Lots of bookmakers have different options for betting on the golf this week, including competitive odds and different place markets.
We like the markets on bet365, including the price boosts on offer pre-event.
They are currently offering 5/1 on McIlroy to win, 14/1 on Fitzpatrick and a treble on Rahm, Hatton and Fleetwood to finish in the top 10 at 5.6/1.
The problem is that most of Donald’s team may not be fully focused on this week, as they are entitled to feel they have done enough for the year
McIlroy has already sewn up a fifth Race to Dubai triumph and enjoyed his best Ryder Cup so far. Putting a new driver in play this week suggests he is thinking more about how to end a ten-year drought in the Majors than a third win in this event.
It is worth remembering that McIlroy has not won here since 2015, so his price looks very skinny.
Rahm boasts three wins and a share of fourth in four starts in this tournament, so it is impossible to count him out.
But his Masters win, a share of second at the Open, and his part in the Ryder Cup heroics make me think he could take his foot off the pedal this week too.
Most of the Ryder cuppers have been twiddling their thumbs in the six weeks since Rome, but that does not apply to world No 8 Fitzpatrick.
He came out the following week and won the Dunhill Links title in Scotland, and I like his chances of claiming a third DP World Tour victory - to go with a second place and two other top five finishes in eight previous starts.
Fitzpatrick was breathing down Rahm’s neck heading into the final round last year before slipping into a share of fifth.
So a small investment at 18-1 in the first round leader stakes might be good insurance against another late stumble.
The other eye-catcher near the top of the market is Min Woo Lee, a birdie machine who I have always felt was a great fit for the Earth course at Jumeirah.
Lee, who can be backed at 18-1 if you ship around, looked certain to clock up a big win sooner rather than later, when he started the year with a second place finish in Abu Dhabi.
So it was a big surprise that he had to wait until last month for that first victory of 2023, in the poorly-contested Macau Open on the Asian Tour - although there were top six finishes at the Players and the US Open to underline his class.
The young Aussie did not beat much in Macau. But rounds of 62-64-65-63 meant he finished an impressive THIRTY under par. And he followed up with sixth place in much better company at the Zozo Championship.
Rahm’s winning score last year was 20 under, and Lee looks to be one of the few players capable of going that low.
He is clearly in form and has finished 16th and 12th in his two previous starts here, He is capable of much better.
With the field restricted to just the top fifty on the Race to Dubai standings, there is less chance than usual of a shock winner this week.
But among the longer priced players, Matt Wallace, at around 70-1, appeals as the most likely candidate to give us a good run for our money.
Wallace only just scraped into the field for Dubai in 48th place. But that is down to the fact he has played most of his golf this year on the PGA Tour, where he earned his breakthrough victory at the Corales Championship..
He has played some good golf since returning to Europe, and top 15 finishes in Qatar and South Africa in the past few weeks mean he should be more ‘tournament-fit’ than many of his shorter-priced rivals.
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