The desert swing of the European Tour stays in the United Arab Emirates for this week’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic. The oldest tournament on Tour contested in the Middle East will once again take place at pristine Emirates Golf Club, which has hosted every year since 2000. Past winners are a who’s who in the golfing world with Australian Lucas Herbert etching his name on the trophy last year with a playoff victory. Tyrrell Hatton, last week’s winner in Abu Dhabi, makes the short trek north as the betting favorite and the only player with shorter than 10/1 odds on the opening line. Visit BookMaker.eu for a complete list of betting odds and to place your wager.
Odds to Win Omega Dubai Desert Classic at BookMaker.eu
Tyrrell Hatton +675
Tommy Fleetwood +1000
Collin Morikawa +1100
Matthew Fitzpatrick +1500
Sergio Garcia +2200
Paul Casey +2200
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +2200
Matt Wallace +2200
Robert MacIntyre +3000
Andy Sullivan +3000
Shane Lowry +3300
Justin Rose +3500
Thomas Pieters +4000
Victor Perez +4000
Bernd Wiesberger +4000
Martin Kaymer +4000
Rafa Cabrera Bello +4500
Adri Arnaus +4500
Lucas Herbert +4500
Lee Westwood +4500
Jason Scrivener +5500
Danny Willett +5500
Mike Lorenzo-Vera +5500
Ian Poulter +5500
Henrik Stenson +6000
Matthias Schwab +6000
Romain Langasque +7000
David Lipsky +7000
Thomas Detry +7000
Laurie Canter +8000
George Coetzee +8000
Sami Valimaki +8000
Antoine Rozner +8000
Rasmus Hojgaard +9000
Joost Luiten +9000
Aaron Rai +10000
Dean Burmester +10000
Wilco Nienaber +10000
Thorbjorn Olesen +10000
Ross Fisher +10000
Mikko Korhonen +10000
Odds Analysis
Tommy Fleetwood +1000
As the second favorite on the board there isn’t a lot of value in backing Fleetwood. But taking into account his success in this part of the world he’s not a bad choice for the outright win. A closing 73 cost him last week in Abu Dhabi when he slipped to T7, which came after a T10 at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai. He’s finished among the top-10 in each of his last five starts with a solo second at the Scottish Open. He’s also gone T11-T16-T6 in his last three starts in this tournament, so I guess maybe there is some value in backing Fleetwood.
Shane Lowry +3300
Missing the cut last week likely cost Lowry some spots on the odds board and drove his price up. That’s fine with me and anyone else looking to back the Irishman. He closed 2020 with a flurry and has had success here with a T11 last year and T12 in 2019. I probably would have stayed away from him at shorter odds, but there is value in backing the 2019 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship titlist.
Matt Wallace +2200
Recent form has me staring right at Wallace this week. He’s played his last three events in the UAE with a strong showing on and around the greens last week leading to a T7 in Abu Dhabi. Last month he was co-runner-up at the Golf in Dubai Championship, so he’s quite familiar with desert golf and the hazards that come with it.
Lee Westwood +4500
I’m betting that whatever happened to Westwood last week doesn’t happen this week. Following his runner-up at the DP World Tour Championship, the Englishman laid an egg in Abu Dhabi finishing outside the top-50. That’s unlike him in this part of the world where he usually enjoys success. He has 10 top-10s at this event with three of those putting him as runner-up. I’ll back him at a good price and hope for a rebound effort.
Danny Willett +5500
Willett is another of the many players to have success in the Middle East. He’s a former winner of this event and closed last week strong to finish T16 in Abu Dhabi. He also won the DP World Tour Championship in 2018 making him an intriguing pick at a favorable price. There is some unpredictability to his game, but in this part of the world you can count on him hanging around the top of the leaderboard.
Course: Emirates Golf Club – 7,353-yards, par-72
The Majlis Course at the Emirates Golf Club is considered to be one of the finest in the Middle East, running the gamut of the area’s terrain. Winding through the desert dunes, fairways pass a number of lakes, desert areas, indigenous flora and the “Majlis” themselves (Arabic for meeting place). At 7,353 yards the layout isn’t long by Tour standards, but it is lengthy enough to play to the heavy-hitters. However, there are a number of water hazards and bunkers that come into play, as well as desert areas. That requires a mix of power and accuracy to successfully navigate the layout. The 463-yard ninth hole is one of the longest par-4s on the course and is a test for the field with water lining the left side of the fairway and an awkwardly shaped green.
TV Coverage: Golf Channel
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