European Tour Golf - Dubai World Championship

The most lucrative event of the European Golf Tour tees off at the Earth, a new course designed by Greg Norman, at 12.30 local time in the United Arab Emirates.. The prize pool for the Dubai World Championship is $7.5 million with a further $7.5 bonus pool for those who finish in the top 15 of the Race to Dubai, which began almost a year ago in Shanghai.

Rory McIlroy is favourite for the event, priced at 9/1 (bet $10 to win $90 profit). The twenty year-old from Northern Ireland finished second in last week`s Hong Kong Open and has thirteen top ten finishes this season and recorded his first European Tour win ever in February, beating Englishman Justin Rose by one stroke, interestingly at the Dubai Desert Classic. He is currently the favourite to win the Race to Dubai at 1/2 and leads his nearest rival, Lee Westwood, by €128,172.

Westwood is 16/1 to win this, the final event of the season, and 10/3 to win the Race to Dubai. He has nineteen European Tour wins, ranking him tenth of all time, but his only win this season came at Portugal in October. This is, however, far more recent than his rival Rory McIlroy`s only win. Westwood also has twelve top ten finishes this season, only one fewer than his young opponent.

Justin Rose, who finished top of the money list two years ago, is priced at 30/1 to claim a remarkable victory. The Englishman has not won since then but his star seems to be on the rise again with a sixth placed finish in Algarve and fourteenth is Singapore and if he plays as we know he can there is no reason why the twenty-nine year-old cannot be a contender in Dubai this year.

The Earth is a new course so there are no previous winners to mention, but Ross Fisher, who is priced at 20/1, seems to enjoy playing in the heat of Dubai, where he has finished fifth, tenth and thirteenth on the Emirates course. Other players to watch out for include players such as Ernie Els, at 16/1, Padraig Harrington, at 18/1 and Spaniard Sergio Garcia, priced at 22/1.

Dubai World Championship betting odds

Race to Dubai betting odds

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