Dubai World Championship

[Stanley]

Round 1 play (2pts):

Johan Edfors to beat John Parry -105 @ 5Dimes
Backing Edfors to beat Parry even though Parry had a purple patch of form in September-October. Whereas Edfors played in this event last year and finished 22nd and has had two top-5 finishes in the Middle East in the last couple of seasons, rookie Parry hasn't even played in a Tour event in the Middle East. That should give Edfors an advantage and it is one that he is used to holding at the start of events: even though he has a 8-9-0 h2h record over 72 holes against Parry this year, it is 11-6-0 over the first round - Edberg averages over 1.4 shots per round better than Parry in the opening round this year.

[unofficial rd1 system plays: Jacquelin tb Davies -105; Hansen A tb Noh -105; Garcia tb Stenson -105]

 

[Stanley]

Round 2 play (2pts):

Martin Kaymer to beat Robert Karlsson -175 @ Paddy Power
In the last three occasions that Karlsson has held the first round lead in an event, he has shot 76-77-71 and finished the 2nd day in 52nd, 26th and 5th place respectively. The last time that he retained the 1st round lead was in the 2003 European Masters, so I can't see him doing so tomorrow when he will be playing under pressure and in the final group. By contrast, Kaymer has dominated this matchup - he has finished ahead of Karlsson in every one of their last 10 common events - and he is playing the better golf this week - he leads the field in greens in regulation so far.

[unofficial rd2 system plays: Stenson tb Karlson +111; Canizares tb Aiken +105; Green tb Yang -110; Poulter tb Schwartzel -127]

 

[Stanley]

Round 3 play (2pts):

Anders Hansen to beat Seung-Yul Noh +120 5Dimes
Good odds to oppose Noh who struggled today in the final group and has now dropped six places to 8th. It may require a strong effort to bounce back from that round and particularly with five of the top-15 in the World Rankings in the seven places above him. Hansen recovered well from a poor opening round to jump to 33rd, but he has been playing the better golf recently with finished of 2nd and 11th in the last two weeks and he should continue his second round form. He is also teeing off two hours before Noh and given the wind forecast for tomorrow (light in the morning and strnog in the afternoon), that may be quite an advantage.

[unofficial rd3 system plays: Casey tb Poulter +100; Jimenez tb Manassero +100]

 

[Stanley]

Round 4 play (2pts):

Lee Westwood to beat Ross Fisher +110 @ 5Dimes
Fisher starts the final round in 2nd place and two shots behind Ian Poulter. For most players, that would be a great platform for a low score in the final round and should lead to a good chance of victory. For Fisher, however, that does not appear to be the case. He has been 2nd or 3rd with one round to play on 10 previous occasions on Tour - from these positions, he has neither won an event nor shot a sub-70 score in the final round. There should no such concerns about the World #1 who lies one shot further back and is the defending champion. Fisher has finished ahead of Westwood just once this season (14 common events) and his previous history suggests that he should fail to hold onto his one-shot advantage over Westwood.

[unofficial rd4 system plays: Jimenez tb Havret +125; Karlsson tb Jaidee -138; Donald tb Kaymer +100; Manassero tb Derksen +110; Molinari F tb Fisher -120; Stenson tb Oosthuizen -110; Willett tb Davies -110; Molinari F tb Poulter +100; Kjeldsen tb Jacquelin +125; Dyson tb Molinari E +110]

 

[sharky17]

WILL IAN POULTER WIN DUBAI CHAMPIONSHIP?

YES +159