Back Rose Over McIlroy For Jumeirah Glory

Rory McIlroy heads the betting for the DP World Tour Championship which gets underway in Dubai on Thursday but is he backable at 5/1?

The Tournament
The schedule leading up to Dubai has its critics, but the World Tour Championship is a fitting way to bring the European Tour to an end, with the top sixty players in the Race to Dubai rankings, representing the cream of European golf, scrapping for a share of the $8 million tournament prize fund. But this year they won’t be competing for the overall Race to Dubai title. Rory McIlroy has already secured that prize, for the second time in three years, with one event to go.

The Course
Opened in 2009, the Jumeirah Golf Estates is one of the newest venues in world golf, and has hosted this tournament since its inception. The fairways are firm and fast and this is definitely a venue for the long hitters, although distance off the tee isn’t the only requirement. The Earth Course features over 100 bunkers and 20 lakes, and a couple of years ago was replanted with ryegrass, making the rough more demanding and putting a premium on driving accuracy.

In The Bunker
It is with a weary sense of inevitability that we look to the top of the antepost market to find Rory McIlroy’s name, and just as predictably, decide that we have no choice but to oppose him at prohibitive odds. He may or may not be rusty after three weeks away from the course, and he may or may not lack motivation, having already landed the Race to Dubai title, but at 5/1 I’m not prepared to back him to find out.

Recommended Bets

Those looking to oppose McIlroy should look no further than his fellow Ryder Cup hero Justin Rose, who is available at 14/1.

He didn’t fair too well in his last outing at the HSBC Championship, but prior to that he broke into the top five at the BMW Masters on his return to action, and having taken a week off rather than playing in Turkey, he should be fresh for Jumeirah, where he’s twice made the top ten.

Victor Dubuisson has been busy since the Ryder Cup and has been in typically unpredictable form. Consecutive top fives at the Volvo World Match Play and the Perth International were followed by a disappointing effort at the BMW Masters and a withdrawal from the HSBC Championship. Last week in Turkey, he started with a 77 but finished with a 64 and if he can carry on in that vein, he could improve on last year’s third place in Dubai. Back him at 18/1.

The final name to add to your shortlist is Jamie Donaldson. His Ryder Cup heroics were the high point of a memorable year for the Welshman, but his final round 66 in Turkey suggests he hasn’t finished yet. He has twice made the top ten in this event and can improve on that this year at odds of 25/1.