McIlory returns to action at the DP World Tour Championship

The climax of the European Tour is this weekend, following on from three other tournaments that come together to make the four event end of season series. The DP World Tour Championship was first held in 2009 and the Race to Dubai was won by Lee Westwood during this final event of the season. Unfortunately, there will be no such drama this time around as Rory McIlroy has such a good lead that no other player can catch him, despite the Northern Irishman not playing in any of the three previous events in the lead up to this finale in Dubai.

The Earth Course, designed by Greg Norman, has been used for this event since it first started in 2009 and features large, undulating greens and generous fairways. With the forecast set to remain fair for the weekend, another low score is not out of the question.

Rory McIlroy, as mentioned above, has not played for over a month now but still enters the tournament as favourite, priced at 6/1 with betfred. McIlroy has previous form on this course, winning the event in 2012 and also having two other top 5 finishes to his name. However, having already sewn up the Race to Dubai standings and with his lack of course time recently, there may be better value elsewhere.

Ian Poulter is out at a tempting 20/1 with Coral to end the season on a high and win the event and has been in good form recently. Losing out in Turkey last week by one shot, Poulter recovered from a disappointing third round and played well to finish on 16 under par and will be confident of a good showing here, especially having finished in second place last year. However, something to keep in mind is the fact that at 7,675 yards, the course in Dubai is long and Poulter`s length off the tee may work against him here.

Last year`s winner, Henrik Stenson, finished six shots clear of the field on 25 under par and did well in turkey last week, posting a final round 64 to finish third. Stenson has not won an event since his triumph in Dubai 12 months ago but is obviously in good form and despite not putting at his best of late, has the game to score low on this course. Expect the Swede to feature this week at 8/1 with bet365.

Looking further down the list and one name that jumps out is that of Stephen Gallacher. The Scot did not enjoy the best of times during the Ryder Cup but his form on the desert courses in recent times has been superb. Gallacher has won the Dubai Desert Classic for the last two years running and this could be significant because a look down the list of previous winners for that event finds the names of Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stenson and Alvaro Quiros, all of which have also won the DP World Tour Championship in the last three years. Finishing 15th in Turkey last week, including a first round of 67, Gallacher is available at 70/1 to win this week and could make a great each/way bet.

Eddie Pepperell has continued to do well in the second half of the year and the young Englishman clearly has a good future in the game. Finishing 10th in Turkey last week with 11 under par, Pepperell also has a tied 4th place finish to his name in recent months and despite not showing much in the way of previous form on a desert course will be aiming to finish strongly before what will be a huge 2015 for the 23 year old. Pepperell is available at 7/1 with bet365 to record a top 10 finish this week.

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19/11/2014     © Frixo 2024