Dubai Invitational: Field, betting odds, tee times for the inaugural DP World Tour event

The first DP World Tour event of 2024 sees Rory McIlroy tee it up in the opening event of the International Swing – the inaugural Dubai Invitational.

The four-time Major winner and reigning Race to Dubai winner sat out last week’s signature PGA Tour event The Sentry to headline the field at Dubai Creek Resort from January 11-14 as the Tour plays the first of three consecutive events in the United Arab Emirates. The Northern Irishman will also tee it up in next week’s Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club – the season’s first Rolex Series event.

The Invitational is a new 72-hole strokeplay event featuring 60 players that will be played biennially (every other year). They’ll be joined in the field by 60 amateurs, who will play a concurrent three-day team Pro-Am event, with Sunday featuring only the pros.

McIlroy will be hoping to let his golf do the talking over the next fortnight having already made plenty of headlines in the opening week of 2024 having admitted he was too quick to judge players for joining LIV golf.

“I’m really excited to start my year at the Dubai Invitational,” he said. “I’ve always enjoyed coming back to Dubai to set up my season and with a pro-am format, this tournament is going to be an enjoyable week.

“Dubai Creek Resort is a fantastic course and given the support we get in Dubai from the fans, I’m sure they are going to make it another great week on the golfing calendar.”

With a $2.5m purse, the Dubai Invitational will pay one-tenth of that offered at LIV events and far less than the $8.3m on offer at this week’s Sony Open on the PGA Tour, but it still boasts an impressive field with McIlroy’s fellow Ryder Cup teammates Tommy Fleetwood and Nicolai Hojgaard in action, along with captain Luke Donald.

Ryan Fox, Adrian Meronk, and Francesco Molinari are among the other star attractions at a venue that we rank among the best courses in the middle east and north Africa.

2024 sees the DP World Tour schedule expanded and split into fives ‘swings’. The opening swing saw six events played in Australia, South Africa and Mauritius at the end of 2023. The International Swing runs until March 10, with events in the UAE,Bahrain, Kenya, and South Africa, before a five-event Asian Swing, six-event European Swing, and five-event closing swing.

As the names suggests, ‘The Back Nine’ will see further nine events played across Europe, including the British Masters, Irish Open, and Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, before the season concludes with the new big-money DP World Tour Play-offs – the Abu Dhabi Championship and DP World Tour Championship.

Dubai Invitational Field

See the full list of the 60 pros teeing it up at Dubai Creek Resort and how they qualified here.

Dubai Invitational Betting Odds

Unsurprisingly McIlroy and his Ryder Cup teammates are the bookies’ big favorites to win the opening DP World Tour event of 2024, but we fancy a man who narrowly missed out on a spot in Rome – Adrian Meronk – to start the year with his fifth career win in Europe.

Selected odds

Rory McIlroy 3/1

Tommy Fleetwood 6/1

Nicolai Hojgaard 11/1

Adrian Meronk 14/1

Rasmus Hojgaard 16/1

Ryan Fox 16/1

*Odds correct at 4pm GMT on January 8, 2024.

Dubai Invitational Tee Times

Round 1 – All times Gulf Standard Time (GMT+4, EST +9)

Round 2 – All times Gulf Standard Time (GMT+4, EST +9)

Rob specializes in the DP World Tour, PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and the Ryder Cup, spending large chunks of his days reading about, writing about, and watching the tours each month.

He’s passionate about the equipment used by professional golfers and is also a font of knowledge when it comes to golf balls, golf trolleys, and golf bags, testing thousands down the years.