DP World Championship Preview

The PGA Europe Tour draws to a close with the DP World Tour Championship this week and three golfers remain in contention to win the Race to Dubai. Tommy Fleetwood is currently ahead in the rankings and only Justin Rose or Sergio Garcia can overhaul him going into the season-ending tournament. It should prove to be a thrilling three-way battle, while plenty of other superstar names are also lining up for the DP World Tour Championship. John Rahm, Tyrell Hatton, Brandon Grace and Francesco Molinari are all in the mix and fans can look forward to some high-quality golf over the next few days.

The man of the moment is Justin Rose, who has won back-to-back titles to move into contention in the Race to Dubai. He claimed WGC-HSBC Champions title in Shanghai with a magnificent performance and followed it up by winning the Turkish Airlines Trophy in Antalya. He holed a 10-foot birdie putt on the final hole to beat Nicolas Colsaerts in dramatic fashion, capping a sensational couple of weeks for the Englishman. His victory in Shanghai was even more dramatic: he went into the final day eight shots behind Dustin Johnson, the world number one, but overhauled him with some spellbinding golf.

Rose, the reigning Olympic champion and a former US Open winner, is now up to sixth in the world thanks to his fantastic form. He is hoping to channel the heroics he displayed all the way back in 2007 and overhaul current Race to Dubai leader Tommy Fleetwood in the season’s curtain raiser. Ten years ago, Rose was trailing Ernie Els and Padraig Harrington in the standings for the Order of Merit going into the final tournament, the Volvo Masters at Valderrama, but he produced a performance right out of the top drawer to leap ahead of them.

“I think mathematically at Valderrama in 2007, I could have maybe finished second or third, but went ahead and won the tournament,” he said. “It’s probably something fairly similar this week. I need to finish towards the top end of the leaderboard, and if you’re going to do that, you may as well focus on trying to win the tournament.”

Betonline will have odds, make sure to check them before wagering, and you will see that Rose is the clear favourite to win this tournament at 6/1, while Race to Dubai leader Fleetwood is all the way out at 25/1. Fleetwood has 4,235,987, but it has taken him 23 tournaments to accrue that tally, whereas Rose has gained 3,979,250 points in just 11 tournaments. Back in third is Garcia, who has played in 12 tournaments and racked up an impressive 3,184,582 points. Rahm is fourth, but it is mathematically impossible for him to win it.

Fleetwood could be an interesting bet at 25/1 as he will be determined to win the overall title. “I would put my money on me, every day,” he said. “It will be a perfect way to end a year that’s been amazing. It would mean a lot. There’s no denying it or getting away from it. There’s no saying, I just want to play my own game and not think about it. I think that’s just pretty much impossible.”

Garcia could also make things interesting as he has had a fantastic 2017 and is in fine form once again, but his chances of winning the Race to Dubai are very slim as he has left himself a bit too much to do. Ultimately this will come down to Fleetwood v Rose. Fleetwood is in the driving seat, but Rose has the momentum and it really could go either way.