DP World Championship 2014 Preview

This week marks the end of what has been an exciting season on the European Tour and what better way to finish things off than at the monstrous Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates. Designed by Vijay Singh, this incredibly long par 72 layout plays 7,675 yards and clearly favours the big hitters, although there may be a bit of value to be had on in-form players who hit it a bit shorter. Don’t make the mistake of writing them off from the get go. A strong field has assembled in Dubai this week to participate in this prestigious tournament and with obvious favourite Rory McIlroy available at a paltry 9/2, there’s a lot of value to be had further down in the betting. So how are we going to find where that value lies?

First off, despite the length, the course plays relatively easy and there are a lot of opportunities to make birdies so keep an eye on players who regularly go low. The only issue is that there are a fair amount of hazards waiting to punish wayward tee shots and approaches so accuracy off the tee and from the fairway is a must. Clearly, the big hitters are at an advantage as they give themselves a good chance of reaching the green in two on some of the longer par 4s. However, there are a number of players who are accurate with their long irons who will be just as capable of hitting as many greens in regulation. Overall this should be an exciting contest and it’ll be interesting to see if Rory McIlroy can stamp his authority on the game once more.

Rory McIlroy  9/2

Henrik Stenson  17/2

Justin Rose  14/1

Brooks Koepka  18/1

Ian Poulter  18/1

Brooks Koepka has had a stellar season and after winning last week he will arrive in Dubai confident that he will be able to earn himself one last large pay cheque before the season closes. Although he is only available at 18/1, when you compare that price to those players priced similarly he begins to look like a great bet. Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer are both priced at 22/1 and are in form nowhere near as good as Koepka whilst Sergio Garcia is available at the same price and he’s gone off the boil completely during the past few weeks. With three Top 5s in his last seven starts it’s tough to ignore Koepka here this week. Each way is the bet for me.

Alexander Levy has come into his own over the past few weeks and I’ve been keeping a close eye on the young Frenchman and tipping him whenever he looked like he may have a chance. He won for us in Portugal at odds of 70/1 and after that came incredibly close to earning his second trophy of the season at the BMW Masters, where he finished as runner-up. He’ll arrive in Dubai eager to finish strong and at 33/1 looks to offer a bit of value. Each way here is the bet for me.

I’ve followed Dubuisson closely since his performance in the Ryder Cup and although that is yet to pay dividends, he made enough of an impression in Turkey last week to justify one final strike. After opening with a dismal 77 there, he ended up closing with a rather impressive 64 and should gain a fair amount of confidence from that. He’ll also enjoy the Earth Course and should make more than a few birdies this week.

Given his form this year, Rory McIlroy is the obvious favourite this week but over the past couple of weeks he’s been spending more time with his attorneys than with his coach. At 9/2 I simply cannot back him. Rather another previous winner, Henrik Stenson, looks to be the best bet of the lot here. Almost every time the stakes are high Stenson comes out swinging and I’m expecting this week to be the same. He showed his game is in a good place last week with a third in Turkey and will look to improve on that this time around.