2024 Dubai Invitational Tips and Preview
Rory McIlroy might be in-cognito at the Dubai Invitational following his Rahm-induced U-turn on the LIV situation
Rory McIlroy might not be everyone's favourite player in golf right now but he is the favourite for the Dubai Invitational. With a price of 3/1 against his name though, that's good for golf bettors around globe. The Dubai Invitational 2024 is the inaugural edition of the event and it features 60 pros and 60 amateurs with the top pros and amateurs being paired together on the Saturday, and pros only in round 4 competing for their share of a 2.5 million purse.
- Click the link to see my Sony Open Preview over on SBK
Following Rory in the market are his Ryder Cup team mates Tommy Fleetwood 8.0 and Nicolai Hojgaard 13.0. Nicolai comes here off the back of a recent win in Dubai at the DP World Tour Championship, albeit on what will prove a vasly different test of track. Nicolai's progressive form on my model in a top score of 10.0.
The course - Dubai Creek Resort
We have no real course form to go on at Dubai Creek Resort but a quick look at the terrain shows us we are playing at a similar course to the one we'll see next week at the Dubai Desert Classic. Indeed only the Emirates course is older than the Dubai Creek track in this part of the world. It's a tight track with a lot of water trouble. The fairways are twisty and surrounded by the aqua, sands and desert scrub. Dubai Creek Resort plays just over 7,000 yards to a par 71 and the profile we are looking for here is one of a more accurate plodder type with a neat short game for the undulating greens.
The Contenders
Antoine Rozner 45/1 was trending into form pre-Christmas and shows a progressive form rating of 8.67 on my model. Rozner was the round 1 leader in Mauritius with an opener of 62, eventually finishing t29 after a poor final round. The Frenchman was 15th in GIR last season on the DP World Tour and has form in the desert with a win in Qatar and here in Dubai.
Marcel Siem 50/1 is a player who returned to some form of old in 2023 and finished off the season with form reading 11-15-29, with two more top 10s not long before that. The Hero Indian Open winner ranked 6th in strokes gained putting in 2023. The German also record a t2 at the Porsche European Open.....
Jeff Winther 75/1 doesn't get the credit he deserves and the Dane finished in the top eleven places five times at the back end of season 2023 on the DP World Tour. This included a top 10 at the season finale DP World Tour Championship. Winther knows how to go low and puts the par breakers together in streaks. He won the Mallorca Golf Open in 2021 and ranked fifth in putts per GIR last season.
Dubai Invitational Tips
All tips advised to general OP prices on Oddschecker
Antoine Rozner 45/1 - 0.5u win, 1u top 10 @3/1
Marcel Siem 50/1 - 0.5u win, 1u top 10 @4/1
Jeff Winther 75/1 - 0.5u win, 1u top 10 @9/2
