The final DP World Tour event of the season will take place this weekend, and the top 50 players in the season-long Race to Dubai rankings are set to tee it up at the DP World Tour Championship.
The tournament is held at Jumeirah Golf Estates and has 12,000 points up for grabs – more than any other event on the tour's calendar.
However, despite the huge amount of points and prize money on offer, only two players come into the event with a chance of winning the Race to Dubai and the Harry Vardon Trophy.
Rory McIlroy currently leads the way on 4,977 points and the only man within 2,000 points of him is Thriston Lawrence on 3,212.
Impressively, McIlroy has accumulated this lead over Lawrence despite playing in 14 fewer events than the South African.
The 2,000-point margin is important as that is the number of points that the winner will receive for winning the DP Tour Championship on Sunday.
Therefore, Lawrence needs to win the event and hope McIlroy fails to accumulate 236 points which means the Northern Irishman would have to finish lower than 11th.
While the culmination of the Race to Dubai is the most pressing issue this weekend, the rest of the field is still in with a chance of earning themselves a nice bumper payday before Christmas by performing well at the tournament. Ahead of the first tee times tomorrow, here are our DP World Tour Championship betting tips.
DP World Tour Championship betting tips
Rory McIlroy (Eight places) – 10/3
While I won't earn any hipster points among fans of golf betting sites by backing the favourite to win the DP World Tour Championship, it would be difficult to ignore the Northern Irishman for a plethora of reasons.
First and foremost, he has more sporting incentives than any other player on the field. A win here would secure his sixth Race to Dubai title and he has made no secret of the fact that one of his career ambitions is to match and then beat Colin Montgomery's tally of eight. It would also earn him a mouthwatering £5,000,000.
Secondly, McIlroy has form in desert golf and that this course in particular. He is a two-time winner of this event while his only other win on the DP World Tour this season was in similar conditions at the Dubai Desert Classic back in January.
Finally, his game is suited the long course at Jumeirah Golf Estates. There is a correlation between driving distance and winning this event and nobody on the tour has a longer driving average than McIlroy this season.
Tommy Fleetwood (Eight places) – 13/2
Tommy Fleetwood had a very typical Tommy Fleetwood year in 2024 in that he largely played well and was in contention most weeks but fell short of picking up any wins.
Fleetwood is remarkably still searching for a maiden win on the PGA Tour but he is a seven-time winner on the DP World Tour which should naturally give him more confidence ahead of this one.
The 33-year-old comes into this event in fantastic form after finishing inside the top six in each of his last three events. He led the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship last week after one round and remained in contention throughout.
Additionally, Fleetwood has proven that he is adept at posting low scores around Jumeirah Golf Estates. He has twice been a runner-up around here, including last year when his score of -19 fell two short of eventual winner, Nicolai Hojgaard.
Matt Wallace (Eight places) – 14/1
Matt Wallace is another pick based on recent form and previous record at the DP World Tour Championship. Wallace put in a performance to remember last year, posting a birdie in every hole on the back nine in his third-round effort of 60, demonstrating that he has the skills to get on top of this golf course.
Wallace ended up finishing in a tie for second last year and he has another runners-up medal to his name at this event from 2018. After finishing third in Abu Dhabi last week, he should certainly be considered a dark horse this week.
Additionally, Par 5 scoring has often proven to be an important statistic to track at events played at Jumeirah Golf Estates and Wallace ranks in seventh place in this metric across the season on the DP World Tour.
DP World Tour Championship tips
- Rory McIlroy E/W (Eight places) – 10/3 @ Betfred
- Tommy Fleetwood E/W (Eight places) – 13/2 @ Betfred
- Matt Wallace E/W (Eight places)– 14/1 @ Betfred
Andy is tipster who has been calling Golf tournaments for several years across many different platforms. He has covered all tournaments from the Asian Tour to the Masters.
