Tipster: Stanley

Dubai Desert Classic

Outright plays (1pt):

Thomas Bjorn to win 22/1 e.w. @ Totalbet
The Emirates is still the scene of his greatest golfing triumph when he was paired with Tiger Woods in all four rounds in 2001 and beat him into 2nd place. Dubai is also the place where he met his wife and they still spend some of the winter months there, so it is easy to explain why Bjorn has such a good record in this event. With finishes of 1st, 3rd, 2nd and 4th in his four starts prior to his last two weeks, he is in very good form and really should have won the Johnnie Walker Classic when a selection last month. Although he was involved in the World Matchplay until Friday, this event will have been foremost in his mind since that defeat and he will be very determined to reclaim this trophy. I am confident he will once again finish of Woods.

Brian Davis to win 40/1 e.w. available generally
Davis went out of the World Matchplay in the first round last week, so had a couple more days to prepare for this event and while he hasn't won on this course like Bjorn, his finishes of 6th, 4th and 11th in the last three years show that he also has a likening for Dubai. To add to his cause for this event, he won the European Tour-sanctioned event, the ANZ Championship, three weeks for his second Tour title of his career so he is well-poised to fully become one of the leading players on this Tour and represent Europe in the Ryder Cup.

Phillip Price to win 100/1 e.w. @ Stan James
This is just a wrong price. It is not as though Price has been playing badly - he finished 17th in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, having been in contention throughout and been in 3rd place with one round to play. He made the cut in the Nissan Open and lost in the first round last week, but that is a blessing in disguise for this event. Last year he played poorly on the PGA Tour before opening his European Tour campaign with this event and finished in 9th place, five shots behind Derksen. If the wind blows, he will be well-suited to this course and he hits the ball particularly low and has a good record in windy conditions so he should never be 100/1 to win.

Final update: 1-2; -1.62pts

Bjorn mc
Davis 5th
Price 30th

Had hoped for better from Davis having started the final round in 3rd place, but glad in the end that he finished strongly to claim a four-way share of 5th place; enough to cover the stake and a little more. Price had threatened to feature this week, but made the headlines for holing a putt for an eagle in the first round but forgetting to have the flag taken out of the hole. Without that two-shot penalty he would have finished Thursday in 3rd place.