
DP World Tour Championship Tips: Back the Hojgaard twins to go well in Dubai

The 2022/2023 season on the DP World Tour is ending here in Dubai this week where the Top 50 in the Race to Dubai rankings will battle it out to finish as this season’s DP World Tour’s number 1 player of the season. Jamie Broadhurst provides us with his best bets below.
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Since the first Dubai World Championships that began in 2009, the Tour has returned back to the Earth Course situated in the Jumeirah Golf Estates every year. The course is based in Dubai and since 2017 it has been part of the Rolex Series on the Tour, meaning the bigger names in the game definitely strive to qualify for this event.
A star-studded event on a high class and long golf course, let’s get into it and finish the DP World Tour season on a high!
Details of the Earth Course
- Par 72
- 7706 yards approx.
- Greg Norman design
- 4 x Par 3s – ranging from 186-245 yards
- 10 x Par 4s – ranging from 371-499 yards
- 4 x Par 5s – ranging from 572-651 yards
- Bermuda fairways/greens
The course does what it says on the tin, it’s a lengthy test this week that will require players long games to be in tip top shape and with large, undulating, Bermuda greens, that will test even the best putters in the field. Multiple winners of the DP World Tour Championship are in this field and the Earth Course is certainly a place where a certain type of individual can feel really comfortable at, a good example is that both Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm have won here at least four times between them.
- 2021 winner – Collin Morikawa -17
- 2020 winner - Matthew Fitzpatrick -15
- 2019 winner - Jon Rahm -19
- 2018 winner - Danny Willett -18
- 2017 winner - Jon Rahm -19
Stat Averages
- Strokes Gained: Off the Tee - 9th
- Driving Accuracy - 11th
- Strokes Gained: Approach - 12th
- Strokes Gained: Tee2Green - 5th
- Greens in Regulation - 11th
- Putting 7th
On the whole, it’s not as simple as maybe the stats have told us about the past few weeks on the Tours. Every department of the game will be tested; an emphasis off the tee, a premium of avoiding the long Bermuda rough, a consistent long iron game to find the large targets in regulation but also to find them in the right places to avoid giving yourself 50+ feet consistently for birdies. Making sure your putter is hot this week and you avoid as many 3 putts as you can on the extra-large greens is always a key point to consider this week.
- Strokes Gained: Off the Tee/Driving Distance
- Strokes Gained: Tee2Green/Proximity to the hole
- Putting Average
Apart from Fitzpatrick’s two wins here in 2020 and 2016, all the rest of the winners have been solid drivers off the golf ball in their respective weeks, with a lean towards distance over others, but finding a powerful driver from the tee and an accurate one isn’t as easy as you’d think.
The last thing on the course I would like to point out is the similarity to the Fire Course some of the guys played on in 2021 and 2020 for the Dubai Championships. Also designed by Greg Norman, with the same grass type, the same score to par, relatively similar length and a big emphasis on driving is needed. I will be sure taking a look into players’ performance from them two years at the Duabi Championships when building my card.
DP World Tour Championship Tips
Selections for the DP World Tour Championships
Just the three selections this week, stretching the 10pts as usual across the three! All with the 5-place market on Bet365 as there are just 50 players in the field this week, let’s follow the good place from last week’s preview!
Nicolai Hojgaard 25/1
Recent Form – 2-31-56-5-3
Course Form – 4
The first of the Hojgaard twins for me this week. The young Dane is a colossal hitter of the golf ball, both from off the tee and with his irons. He is in some really good form and has shown it on the other side of the pond on the PGA Tour too. A 4th place finish on Debut on the Earth Course two years back was a solid showing and he went mightily close last week too!
Rasmus Hojgaard 30/1
Recent Form – 6-16-26-25-4-T45
Course Form – 51-27-7
Rasmus stays on the card from last week after his brilliant 6th place finish for us, and his odds are a little higher this week too. It has been a very inconsistent year for Rasmus following a nasty injury around the start of the year which forced him to pull out of the Hero Cup team event which seemed to be the Ryder cup warm up for the lads. However, 26th, 25th 16th and a 6th place finish last time out was much better at a really solid track. In his prime we definitely wouldn’t be getting 30/1 on him and surely he is buoyed with confidence after his recent upturn in form!
Adrian Otaegui 45/1
Recent Form – 33-MC-9-28-16
Course Form – 16-14-4-42
He may not be the longest driver on the golf ball but I truly believe this is a course for Otaegui, and with a 16th , 14th and a 4th place finish here the last three years, it looks like it may well be! The short but sharp hitter ranks 1st for Driving Accuracy on the DP World Tour for this season and is well inside the top-10 for both Strokes Gained: Approach and Tee2Green categories with a good scrambling game to go with it. If this putter works for Adrian this week he will contend as recent results show he is trending in the right direction for sure.

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