In the final episode of the season, The Tips brings you expert analysis to help you choose your Fantasy team as the DP World Tour Championship returns to Jumeirah Golf Estates for its 15th edition.
Whether it’s making picks to update your Fantasy team or keep your eye on the betting markets, The Tips - launched earlier this season - provide their insights as the show looks to sort the form horses from the long shots on both the DP World Tour and on the PGA TOUR.
Joining regular host Ollie Silverton this week are industry-leading golf tipsters Ben Coley and Matt Cooper along with golf broadcaster Kit Alexander, who outline their picks and reasons why ahead of the fifth and final Rolex Series event of the year and the RSM Classic on this week's podcast, which you can find here: https://linktr.ee/dpworldtour.
If you have not done so already, you can sign up to play the official 2023 DP World Tour Fantasy game and submit your six-man team before round one gets under way on Thursday: https://fantasy.dpworldtour.com/
The 2023 season-long winner will win a trip to the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai next year, enjoy a lesson with a DP World Tour professional and a round of golf on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates. For more information on this amazing prize and others, read here.
DP World Tour Championship
The top 50 players from the DP World Tour Rankings in Partnership with Rolex are all participating in this week's season-ending event in Dubai.
Following last week's Nedbank Golf Challenge, Rory McIlroy has won the Race to Dubai, moving behind only six-time winner Seve Ballesteros and record eight-time holder Colin Montgomerie.
Defending champion Jon Rahm is aiming to win the DP World Tour Championship for a record fourth time, adding to his victories in 2017, 2019 and 2022.
McIlroy and fellow Major Championship winner Matt Fitzpatrick have the opportunity to match Rahm as three-time winners of the event.
While there is a relaxed atmosphere for those who have made it to the season finale, Alexander believes there is still much for those in action to play for.
"It's probably the last time the majority of these players will tee it up this year," he said.
"Maybe some will play in the Hero Challenge, a few might go down and start next season in South Africa.
"But for a lot of guys this is the last big hurrah before Christmas, before the end of the year.
"It's a chance to fulfil their own goals. Whether that's maybe a win, getting into the top 50 (on the Official World Golf Ranking) and the Majors ahead of next year or just forcing their way further up the Race to Dubai and finishing among the top 10 not otherwise exempt to earn a PGA TOUR card for next season and that is big on a lot of people's minds this week."
As mentioned by Alexander, as part of the Strategic Alliance between the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR, a direct and formal pathway has been established for players to earn dual membership status.
Of those ten dual members, the leading player will also be exempt into THE PLAYERS Championship and the Charles Schwab Challenge in 2024.
With many on the bubble of finishing among the leading top ten finishers, Coley believes it will be hard for one of those to emerge victorious over the Earth Course with the stakes so hight and due to the depth of the field.
"To go ahead and win a tournament this big when it has that extra carrot and when they're probably going to have to beat Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Viktor Hovland, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tyrrell Hatton or Tommy Fleetwood etc. I think it is a really, really big ask."
Both Coley and Cooper are in no doubt that accuracy combined with distance off the tee is a key factor this week.
"It's a ball strikers track," Cooper said. "It values good shots off the tee especially and especially if you've got that little bit of extra juice to maybe cut the odd corner or carry one or two bunkers but not everyone can."
As for who our expert guests think will excel? In their first outright picks, Coley plumped for Min Woo Lee, while Cooper opted for Matt Fitzpatrick.
Min Woo Lee
BC: I want someone who's not got anything bigger to worry about ideally or something that might weigh heavy on them on Sunday. Of the top three, my preference would be for Jon Rahm who's played in this tournament four times and three players have beaten him, two of them aren't playing this week. Matt Wallace is the only player in this field who was finished ahead of Jon Rahm at the Earth course, which is fairly ridiculous, but such a run will come to an end I'm sure at some stage. He's a brilliant chipper and putter. His short game is absolutely world-class. As with quite a lot of modern golfers who come through with his sort of background, iron play is sort of the missing piece of the puzzle. A bit of finesse maybe you could argue is needed. He's certainly improved over the past 18 months. He's obviously a Rolex Series winner already… We've seen all year his star really rise. He was fifth in the US Open, top 20 at the PGA Championship and he was in the mix at The PLAYERS Championship. He's just been a pretty permanent fixture into the autumn too. Despite not getting that big win since Scotland that his performance has probably merited, I think we'd all probably agree that he's on his way to the very top of the game actually. If he can find that little improvement with his wedge game in particular, he'd certainly be a welcome addition to the top of the sport, a real player with superstar potential and this would be a great way to underline that.
Matt Fitzpatrick
MC: It's just down to his fondness for the course. Of course he's also added length over the years to his tee shots. He's had eight starts here, six of them top tens, two wins and I just think that's a really strong case when you add in his recent form, which almost seems to have gone forgotten. He played so well at the Ryder Cup of course and then won the Alfred Dunhill Links the week after, but he sort of dropped hints before then. I think he's in good form and he loves the golf course.
Fantasy Insight: As it stands, Viktor Hovland is the favourite for players of our Fantasy Game this week, featuring in 87.63% of teams. Other popular players include Matt Fitzpatrick (66.93%) and Tyrrell Hatton (57.32%). Of those, two-time champion Fitzpatrick features among our expert picks' leading selections.
Comparatively, some of our other expert choices feature much further down the ranks in terms of players chosen, with Sami Välimäki in 2.94% teams.
| Expert | Player | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Ben Coley | Min Woo Lee | I want someone who's not got anything bigger to worry about ideally or something that might weigh heavy on them on Sunday. Of the top three, my preference would be for Jon Rahm who's played in this tournament four times and three players have beaten him, two of them aren't playing this week. Matt Wallace is the only player in this field who was finished ahead of Jon Rahm at the Earth course, which is fairly ridiculous, but such a run will come to an end I'm sure at some stage. He's a brilliant chipper and putter. His short game is absolutely world-class. As with quite a lot of modern golfers who come through with his sort of background, iron play is sort of the missing piece of the puzzle. A bit of finesse maybe you could argue is needed. He's certainly improved over the past 18 months. He's obviously a Rolex Series winner already… We've seen all year his star really rise. He was fifth in the US Open, top 20 at the PGA Championship and he was in the mix at The PLAYERS Championship. He's just been a pretty permanent fixture into the autumn too. Despite not getting that big win since Scotland that his performance has probably merited, I think we'd all probably agree that he's on his way to the very top of the game actually. If he can find that little improvement with his wedge game in particular, he'd certainly be a welcome addition to the top of the sport, a real player with superstar potential and this would be a great way to underline that. |
| Adrian Meronk | I think it's very hard to argue against him when he's a four-time winner over the past 15 months. He's won big titles but he's not necessarily had to beat the best players on the circuit or in the world to win those, but I do think he's capable. think he learned a lot actually when he played with Rory McIlroy at the Dubai Desert Classic last year and really felt like he belonged in that kind of company and we know he does. It's all about one final chance to show what the Ryder Cup side were missing and also to rubber stamp his PGA TOUR. He'll get a card, whatever happens this week. In terms of the course itself, he was seventh last year. When I say he's played eight rounds here, actually you can multiply that number because he spends winter in Dubai practices at this golf course and he knows it really, really well. | |
| Vincent Norrman | He's won two of his last 10 tournaments. A little bit of fortune probably involved in both of those, but I do think he's a player who continues to be underestimated. I think he's got real potential to be a top 50 staple and a potential Ryder Cup player of the future. In terms of what he does off the tee, he's one of the very best drivers in this field. I think that's a key club and I thought he played nicely last week at Sun City. Experience generally is something we've always talked about as necessary there and I thought top 20 on his debut was fine, drove the ball well and I think you'll find this course much more to his liking. Another one who's got nothing to worry about and if he wins this he might finish second or third on the Race to Dubai. | |
| Matt Cooper | Matt Fitzpatrick | It's just down to his fondness for the course. Of course he's also added length over the years to his tee shots. He's had eight starts here, six of them top tens, two wins and I just think that's a really strong case when you add in his recent form, which almost seems to have gone forgotten. He played so well at the Ryder Cup of course and then won the Alfred Dunhill Links the week after, but he sort of dropped hints before then. I think he's in good form and he loves the golf course. |
| Sami Välimäki | my only other pick this week is Sami Välimäki. He's actually won on a Greg Norman course before at Al Mouj in Oman. He also finished 13th at the Fire Course on this resort, but most importantly I think he was fifth on debut here in 2020 and then he won in Doha a couple of weeks ago and he wouldn't be the first person to thrive at Doha and then do well here. Lots and lots of winners here and people who've gone close to winning here have done very well at Doha. I think that package is all quite nice given that he's quite a big price you can get him. |
To find out more about their opinions on this week's Nedbank Golf Challenge and hear their tips for the RSM Classic, listen to the podcast in full here: https://linktr.ee/dpworldtour.
