DP World Tour Championship – Who will win the race to Dubai?

In the following article we shall review the upcoming DP World Tour Championship which tees off on the 13th of November. This is the annual climax of the race to Dubai and includes a stellar field made up of the top 50 earners on the race to Dubai list. We are going to give you a full breakdown of the event here, including history, course detail and players to watch. Finally, we will offer some betting tips and our DP World Tour Championship prediction for your wagers on the tournament.

The Tour Championship has always been played at the end of the season. It has existed in its current format since 2009 with a final event in the UAE, when they replaced the Order of Merit with the Race to Dubai. The players accrue money throughout the season and the top-ranked 50 players on the list qualify.

Last year’s winner was Rory Mcllory. This was his third victory in the competition, adding to his wins in 2012 and 2015. With this win meaning he tied with Jon Rahm of Spain to go level on the most Race to Dubai titles. Rahm won it in 2017, 2017 and 2022. There have been 10 winners in total down the years since it moved to its new home.

Course Overview

Jumeirah Golf Estates is a large residential golf community located in the United Arab Emirates. Former golfing legend Greg Norman designed the 2 golf courses here and they are named Earth and Fire. The Tour Championship is played on the Earth course which has 72 holes. The course includes many rolling fairways, plenty of water hazards, some well-placed bunkers, and it’s one of the best-maintained courses worldwide.

Who are the DP World Tour Championship players to watch out for?

Let’s look at five possible contenders for the upcoming DP World Tour Championship.

Rory McIlroy

Race to Dubai Ranking: 1st (4,133 Points)

Record: 3-time winner

Nationality:  Northern Irish (Add Flag)

One of the greatest players to have ever played golf. He completed his modern career grand slam with his victory in the masters earlier this year. Becoming in doing so the first European player to achieve this He has spent over 100 weeks as world number 1 in his career, a fine feat. His stellar career started when he was an amateur, before going on to dominate the men’s tour. He leads the race to Dubai and is the defending champion of the DP World Tour Championship so he is rightly well regarded here by fans and bookmakers alike.

Tommy Fleetwood

Race to Dubai Ranking: 26th  (1,366 Points)

Record: 1-time Winner (2017)

Nationality: English (Add Flag)

Tommy Fleetwood starts favourite with the bookmakers and he’s had a solid season. He has won here before, once back in 201,7 so he knows his way around the course pretty well! His CV lacks a Major trophy despite 3 top-three 3 finishes. He is coming into this in strong form however having won the Nicklaus-Jacklin Award at the Ryder Cup and the recent DP World India Championship in October. Will he continue this winning form at this months DP World Tour Championship?

Alex Noren

Race to Dubai Ranking: 8th  (2,302 Points)

Record: Best Finish 10th (2017)

Nationality: Swedish (Add Flag)

Alex Noren has very low odds for the upcoming tournament and that is based on his form this season, with 2 tour event wins in August and September. A regular on the tour he suprisingly hasn’t managed to capture any majors to date. He has had a long spell away from the winner’s position between 2018 and 2025 but he has been hitting top form recently and looks to have rediscovered his winning touch. He could well be a dark horse for the upcoming DP World Tour Championship.

Shane Lowry

Race to Dubai Ranking: 112th  (489 Points)

Record: Best Finish 8th (2021)

Nationality: Irish  (Add Flag)

Part of the recent victorious European Ryder Cup team, Shane is playing some great golf at the moment. He has only one major to his name (The Open in 2019,) but has been well placed in all of them at times down the years. He is one of the most consistent golfers on the tour and usually places in the top 10. Lowry has had a solid season without claiming a trophy as yet. Bookmakers have him highly priced here, so he’s worth a mention to put that right in Dubai at the DP World Tour Championship.

Michael Kim

Race to Dubai Ranking: 34th  (1,174 Points)

Record: Best – Missed Cut (2024)

Nationality: American (Add Flag)

Michael Kim has only ever once made the top 50 and been included in the race to DP World Tour Championship final tournament. He missed the cut that year but will have learned plenty. He has never really shone in previous seasons, but he has shown signs this year that this could well be finally changing. He won the FedEx Open in France in September and is in good form heading into this event.

Where to watch DP World Tour Championship

The DP World Tour (formerly the European PGA Tour) is exclusive to Sky Sports in the UK. This includes the DP World Tour Championship. They include all the weekly events which are broadcast across every 4 days of all tournaments. This can be viewed on the Sky Sports Golf Channel in normal and HD.

In the USA you can catch the action on NBC or the Golf Channel in some other countries.

Elsewhere, you can also stream the action from some betting and golfing websites.

Prediction for the DP World Tour Championship

Now we have seen all the facts let’s make our final DP World Tour Championship prediction.

This is an exciting tournament to finish the season. The five we have mentioned are all potential winners. Also looking further down the pack there are a few at longer odds like Daniel Hillier and Jayden Schaper who might be worth an each-way flutter. As a side note and a DP World Tour Championship betting tip look for bookmakers that offer the most each-way places.

I fancy Rory to do the job again here with the Ryder Cup win and that grand slam finally completed I think he is going to hit the greens full of confidence and defend his title.

Prediction for the DP World Tour Championship: Rory McIllory to make it 4 wins in this competition at odds between 10/1 to 12/1.