We go into the second half of the DP World Tour Championship on Saturday when the field embark on the Earth Course at the Jumeirah Golf Estate for the third round of the final event of the 2019 European Tour season.
Some big names have congregated towards the top end of the leaderboard, all of whom will be looking to make their move on what is traditionally known as ‘Moving Day’ out in Dubai, so we’re in for a fascinating day of golf.
Round 2 Recap
Many wondered heading into Friday whether Mike Lorenzo-Vera would be able to hang onto this lead. He actually extended it and now leads by three strokes on 12 under par. Tommy Fleetwood and Jon Rahm are tied for second on nine under, two clear of our pre-tournament outright pick Tom Lewis, who struck it beautifully on Friday but holed nothing until the final hole. Rory McIlroy and Thomas Pieters are one more back on six under par with Justin Rose stalking on five under.
It was another frustrating day for us on the betting front with our two ball bet on Thomas Detry finishing as a tie after Marcus Kinhult birdied the last to level things up. There is certainly work to do on that front over the remaining two days of the European Tour season in order to level up the books and come out of things with a profit.
Saturday Betting
Once again there is a market for the third round leader, which understandably revolves around three men. When you think the fourth placed player Tom Lewis is five behind Lorenzo-Vera with two world class golfers in between the two it is hard to see anyone other than one of them three leading. Which one is not the easiest to pick either if we’re being honest.
It might be that the mentally fresher Rahm comes to the fore this weekend in which case he could pounce on Saturday, but that is priced accordingly. I guess with a three shot lead and being odds against, Lorenzo-Vera should be strongly considered but I’m not sure I want to sit on a bet slip that doesn’t have the name Rahm or Fleetwood on it. I’ll leave the market alone as any one of the three could lead.
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Saturday 2 Balls
As ever in this tournament the field will go out in twos on Saturday with the last group off being Mike Lorenzo-Vera and Tommy Fleetwood who go out at 08.45 GMT. Jon Rahm and Tom Lewis are out 10 minutes before them on what has all the makings of a great day of golf out in Dubai as we draw towards the climax of the event.
The pick of the groups though is the one featuring Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose. They are out at 08.15 GMT and it will be a surprise if you don’t get to see every shot the two play on the TV coverage. Much earlier in the morning two Race to Dubai contenders are alongside each other in Shane Lowry and Bernd Wiesberger while Matt Fitzpatrick and Patrick Reed will be another popular pairing. I’ll go with one on Saturday.
Bernd Wiesberger vs Shane Lowry
Match tees off at 07.45 GMT
One group which will have a lot of focus on it on Saturday is the one featuring the current Race to Dubai leader Bernd Wiesberger and The Open champion Shane Lowry, himself still able to land the European number one ranking this weekend.
Both men sit on three under par but for much of Friday, Lowry was faring much better than that. Two costly bogeys in the final few holes halted his progress but he is a mile clear of Wiesberger in the long game department this week and I think that will be significant at some point. The Austrian has the better overall putting stats but a lot of that is down to the first round. Lowry shot the second lowest score on Friday and putted well, as we are used to him doing. Wiesberger made 17 pars on Friday which suggests he didn’t give himself many great looks for birdie. Lowry’s long game is getting him into better positions and that can tell against a man whose desert record leaves plenty to be desired.
Tips
WON – Back S.Lowry to beat B.Wiesberger for a 4/10 stake at 2.38 with Boylesports
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