Omega Dubai Desert Classic betting tips
Omega Dubai Desert Classic betting: Top tips
Joost Luiten’s Saturday 65 at Abu Dhabi GC was eye-catching and, at 35/1, the Dutchman may well kick on in Dubai.
Last week’s podium finish, which saw two final round eagles and only five bogeys all week, was the six-time European Tour winner’s fourth top 10 in the UAE in the last five years.
Pickings have, admittedly, been slimmer in Dubai with Luiten having missed the cut on four of his nine appearances – including last year.
But he did finish eighth in 2016 and also has a solid bank of form at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship at the nearby Jumeirah Golf Estates.
Having endured some injury struggles at the end of last year, it seems significant that Luiten has come back in such positive fashion.
“The swing feels comfortable and I’m hitting some great iron shots, and I just need to keep doing that,” said a man clearly content with his game.
The Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship was Luiten’s 50th European Tour top-10. There’s every chance he posts another one this week.
Rafa Cabrera Bello is equally at home in the desert and the 2012 winner of the Dubai Desert Classic could make another bold bid at 25/1.
The Spaniard finished off strongly last week with a closing 67, and that should have wiped away any winter cobwebs from his first appearance in nearly two months.
Cabrera Bello has finished eight times in the top 20 in the UAE since 2014 and has been sixth, 11th and second in the Dubai Desert Classic in the last three years.
He probably should win more for a man of his talent, and that might put off backers given his relatively lowly price.
I’d rather think positively about a player whose third round 64 last year is his lowest round on the Emirates course and has only failed to break 70 in three of his last 12.
Louis Oosthuizen (16/1) has obvious claims after his Abu Dhabi fourth place continued an impressive run that has seen him rack up five top 10s in his last six and win the South African Open.
It’s ten years since he posted his best performance here, when he was third, but he is undoubtedly in cracking form.
Some of the other leading lights look a short enough price for me, but Ian Poulter (35/1) is in a consistent vein at the moment and posted his best ever finish – sixth – last year.
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Steve Carroll
A journalist for 25 years, Steve has been immersed in club golf for almost as long. A former club captain, he has passed the Level 3 Rules of Golf exam with distinction having attended the R&A's prestigious Tournament Administrators and Referees Seminar.
Steve has officiated at a host of high-profile tournaments, including Open Regional Qualifying, PGA Fourball Championship, English Men's Senior Amateur, and the North of England Amateur Championship. In 2023, he made his international debut as part of the team that refereed England vs Switzerland U16 girls.
A part of NCG's Top 100s panel, Steve has a particular love of links golf and is frantically trying to restore his single-figure handicap. He currently floats at around 11.
Steve plays at Close House, in Newcastle, and York GC, where he is a member of the club's matches and competitions committee and referees the annual 36-hole scratch York Rose Bowl.
Having studied history at Newcastle University, he became a journalist having passed his NTCJ exams at Darlington College of Technology.
What's in Steve's bag: TaylorMade Stealth 2 driver, 3-wood, and hybrids; TaylorMade Stealth 2 irons; TaylorMade Hi-Toe, Ping ChipR, Sik Putter.
