Fleetwood and Mac backed to duel again in Dubai Desert Classic

Rory McIlroy is the short-priced 13/5 favourite to record back-to-back Dubai Desert Classic wins with BoyleSports, with the action set to get underway on Thursday morning.

McIlroy has notched up a total of five wins in Dubai and is looking to add a fourth Dubai Desert Classic to his illustrious CV, having won the tournament in 2009, 2015, and 2023. It looked like another victory in the sun-soaked Gulf state was on the cards for McIlroy last week, but he squandered a lead on the 18th by finding water and ultimately finished one shot behind Tommy Fleetwood, who sank a 16-foot birdie putt to secure his first victory since 2022.

A positive start to the year, albeit frustrating for McIlroy, has seen BoyleSports rate the chance of him ending his 10-year major draught as a 9/4 shot, with the Hollywood hero 66/1 to win golf’s grand slam in 2024.

Tommy Fleetwood has found the Middle East to be a happy hunting ground in the past and he’ll have plenty of supporters this week as he seeks his fourth win in the UAE, with three of his current seven DP World Tour victories having come in the locale. Fleetwood joins fellow Englishman Tyrell Hatton as 9/1 joint second favourite to deny McIlroy once again, as he vies for a second win in as many weeks.

Others to note include Jordan Smith (28/1), who finished fourth in last week’s Dubai Invitational and is seeking out a third career win, and Nicolai Højgaard (16/1), who was the DP World Tour Championship winner in Dubai late last year and will be hoping to continue where he left off in 2023.

Brian O’Keeffe, spokesperson for BoyleSports, said: “Both Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood have been well backed after their performances last week, but if Rors can put those costly mistakes behind him, punters can see him continuing his love-affair with Dubai.”

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Dubai Desert Classic selected odds