DP World Tour Championship predictions: Super Swede eyes Dubai glory
- This is the 15th edition of the DP World Tour Championship this week
- Jon Rahm is the defending champion after landing a record third title last year
- Recommended bets:
- Alexander Bjork to win and each-way
- Tommy Fleetwood to win and each-way
- Yannik Paul to win and each-way
The DP World Tour Championship is the 45th and final event of another entertaining European campaign with the leading 50 players in the Race to Dubai standings battling it out for glory.
Contested on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates, this will be the 15th edition of the season-ending tournament and defending champion Jon Rahm, who won the title for a record third time last year, is 11/2 with LiveScore Bet to add a fourth trophy to his cabinet.
Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy is the 9/2 favourite to claim the spoils for a third time, having last triumphed here in 2015, while reigning FedEx Cup champion Viktor Hovland is 11/2 to cap off his European campaign in style.
It promises to be another enthralling climax in the United Arab Emirates and there looks to be some value in looking further down the betting market this week.
Swede to end long trophy drought
One player that has been getting closer to his first success since 2018 China Open is Alexander Bjork, who has recorded five top-fives and nine top-10 finishes in what has been a consistent season.
The 33-year-old Swede warmed up for this event with a tied-10th finish at the Nedbank Golf Challenge, that result ending a run of three missed cuts, and that should give him the confidence boost needed to contend in Dubai.
Bjork has had three cracks at the DP World Tour Championship and after coming 17th and 12th in 2017 and 2018 respectively, he came closest to winning when taking a share of second in 2021 when three strokes behind Collin Morikawa.
All aspects of Bjork's game appear to be in fine fettle as well ahead of this outing. He leads in strokes gained: approach and scrambling, is sixth in greens in regulation, third in driving accuracy and fifth in strokes gained: putting.
Englishman to continue Earth Course love affair
Of the players that represented Europe at the Ryder Cup this year, Tommy Fleetwood is the only person who has a recent competitive appearance under his belt and this should have blown away any cobwebs there might have been.
The Englishman was tied-12th on his Nedbank title defence and he heads to a tournament where he has strong form, with his results since his debut at the Earth Course in 2013 reading 37-12-53-9-21-16-2-10-27-5.
If the driver behaves for Fleetwood this week, he looks to have a great chance of being in the mix come Sunday.
German ready to make his mark
With three top-fives and seven top-10 finishes this season, Yannik Paul is another player that has shown great consistency and he only just missed out on a place in Europe's triumphant Ryder Cup team.
The German showed positive signs last time out when tied-15th at the Nedbank and he now returns for a second crack at the DP World Tour Championship, having ending up 23rd on debut last year.
Paul's iron play has been stellar this term and he is second in strokes gained: approach and ninth in greens in regulation, while he is also sixth in SG: tee-to-green.
