The first round of the DP World Tour Championship takes place on Thursday when the 60 men teeing it up will look to go low and get themselves into a position from which to launch a title charge.
For three men in particular it is a big 18 holes as there is a huge bounty at the end of the line if either Tommy Fleetwood, Sergio Garcia or Justin Rose can win the tournament. All eyes will be on them but this is a strong field so there should be some excellent golf to witness.
First Round Leader
With only 60 players in the tournament the first round leader market is quite a condensed one which is a bit of an issue. That being that there is not really any standout value to take a chance on and with the potential for ties quite high on a low scoring golf course, I would only really want to get stuck into this market if I’m getting enough value to still get a decent pay out should I end up finding someone who is tied with a number of players. Alas I can’t find anyone I like so I’ll just hope my outright bets go well.
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Thursday Betting
That leaves us with just the group markets to go at but the positive for that is with the slim line field the players go out in pairs rather than threes which makes betting easier. There are 30 pairings out onto the course so we have a few groups to have a look at and potentially get stuck into.
Thursday 2 balls
The players go out in Race to Dubai ranking order with the lowest ranked players out first and the leaders in that list out in the final pairing. That means the last pair out onto the course will be Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood. They are one of my bet but they are far from the only high profile group teeing off on Thursday.
Other pairs which catch the eye earlier in the day are Nicolas Colsaerts and Lee Westwood while Francesco Molinari and Branden Grace may be popular with the crowds. The all-Spanish pair of Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia will be carrying a big crowd around as well. I’m going with two bets.
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Thomas Pieters vs Paul Dunne
Match tees off at 07.40 GMT
Two men who have no Race to Dubai focuses go out in the second third of the opening day when Thomas Pieters partners the British Masters champion Paul Dunne for the first 18 holes of the tournament.
This will be Dunne’s debut in the tournament which is not ideal for him in terms of this 18 hole match up and even less so when he goes up against a Pieters who is not only experienced around here but who is made for this course as well.
Both men have excellent driving ability but the extra length that Pieters has could be vital around here and I don’t think Dunne has enough of an advantage in the rest of his game to make up the potential short fall. I like Pieters in this pairing.
Justin Rose vs Tommy Fleetwood
Match tees off at 08.40 GMT
The leading two in the Race to Dubai tee off with all the marbles at stake when Justin Rose is paired up with the only man ahead of him in the standings in Tommy Fleetwood. It will be interesting to see how both approach this tournament but for the first 18 holes at least they can keep tabs on each other.
You have to go all the way back to the Open de France for the last time that Fleetwood broke 70 in the opening round of a golf tournament and you would think that is a minimum requirement for him if he is to win this match. He has also only broke 70 once in four opening rounds here.
Rose has broken 70 in three of his last four European Tour or WGC events and as a twice runner up here he knows how to play this golf course. He also has the advantage of freshness on his side having chosen not to tee it up last week and I think he is the value in this match.
Tips
Back T.Pieters to beat P.Dunne for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with Bwin
Back him here:
WON – Back J.Rose to beat T.Fleetwood for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with LeoVegas
Back him here:
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