DP World Tour Championship date, start time & TV info
Date Thursday, November 13 – Sunday, November 16
Course Earth Course, Jumeirah Golf Estates, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Start time By 5am on Thursday
TV Live on Sky Sports Golf and Sky Sports Main Event from 7am on Thursday
Rory McIlroy, Marco Penge and Tyrrell Hatton are the only possible winners of the Race to Dubai going into this week’s season finale. McIlroy would be winning for the seventh time, so would move to within one of Colin Montgomerie’s record of eight European money list triumphs.
Penge closed with a 63 for a share of ninth place on his Yas Links debut in Abu Dhabi last week and the Englishman is making another course debut this week. Hatton slumped to a 75 in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, finishing 41st of 72. He carded four double-bogeys in a ragged Yas Links performance.
Steve Palmer’s DP World Tour Championship predictions
Rory McIlroy
8pts 4-1 Betfair, Paddy Power
Nicolai Hojgaard
4pts each-way 16-1 general
Rasmus Hojgaard
3pts each-way 20-1 bet365, Coral, Ladbrokes
Steve Palmer’s DP World Tour Championship preview
Top tip
Rory McIlroy 4-1
The Earth Course has been such a happy hunting ground for Rory McIlroy in the past and he looks set to put the icing on the cake of a wonderful season by winning another Race to Dubai title.
McIlroy has been teeing up at this track since 2009 and has played in this event 14 times, so has the experience of 1,008 competitive holes at the Earth Course to draw upon. He has won the DP World Tour Championship three times, finished in the top five nine times and is 194 under par for his 56 rounds there.
McIlroy’s imperious driving is made for the Earth Course – a huge ballpark with generous fairways – so he can open his shoulders and dominate his rivals off the tee. He is arguably already the greatest European golfer in history, but overtaking Seve Ballesteros for money-list titles on Sunday would bolster that claim.
Putting has become a strength this year and glory has followed. He won at Pebble Beach and Sawgrass, completed a career Grand Slam at Augusta, won the Irish Open, was part of a winning European Ryder Cup team in New York, and victory this week would complete a dream 2025.
The Abu Dhabi Championship provided a perfect warm-up. McIlroy hardly holed a putt for three days, with his flat stick particularly cold in round one, but everything clicked into place on Sunday. An eagle, eight birdies and nine pars meant a final-round 62 at Yas Links, which left him a shot shy of the playoff.
The 36-year-old has won the Dubai Desert Classic four times – his record in this part of the world is incredible – and it seems that only a sudden development of injury or illness can stop him contending for the DP World Tour Championship title on Sunday.
Next best bet
Nicolai Hojgaard 16-1
The 2023 DPWT Championship was won by Nicolai Hojgaard, who closed with a 64 to triumph by two shots, and this week’s venue is made for his talents. The Dane’s power-packed draw, seen to great effect when setting up an eagle chance on the 18th hole at Abu Dhabi on Sunday, allows him to destroy the Earth Course.
Hojgaard finished fourth on his DPWT Championship debut in 2021, won on his second visit, then failed to qualify for his title defence, so his full course form figures are 4-1. Two of his three DPWT victories have come in the Middle East – he won by four shots in Ras al Khaimah in 2022 – and he was joint-top scorer in the 2023 Hero Cup in Abu Dhabi.
Third place in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, when he finished tied with McIlroy, further underlined Hojgaard’s liking for desert golf.
Other selection
Rasmus Hojgaard 20-1
The Hojgaard brothers appear the main threats to McIlroy’s quest for a fourth DPWT Championship title. Rasmus Hojgaard finished runner-up to McIlroy last year and can boast form figures of 7-11-2 from his last three Earth Course starts.
This time, Rasmus arrives with more self-belief than ever, having enjoyed a solid PGA Tour rookie campaign and made a Ryder Cup debut on a winning side away from home. He has twice finished second on the DPWT this year and third place in the Sanderson Farms Championship on the PGA Tour last month secured his Stateside future.
Rasmus followed 14th place in the Baycurrent Classic in Japan with 23rd spot in Abu Dhabi last week, when rounds of 72, 69, 67, 65 saw him gradually find his A-game at a course he is yet to conquer. More comfortable at the Earth Course, the five-time DPWT champion can be expected to make a bold title tilt.
Read more top golf tips from Steve Palmer:
DP World Tour Championship first-round golf betting tips and predictions
‘He is a master at controlling his ball in a breeze’ – Steve Palmer has two recommendations for the Bermuda Championship
DP World Tour Championship: Earth Course guide, start time, odds and how to watch
Bermuda Championship: Port Royal course guide, start time, odds and how to watch
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