British golfers have real chances in Dubai Desert Classic
Published:Alvaro Quiros heads to the Dubai Desert Classic in the hope of successfully defending the crown he obtained there last year, but he is a big 20/1 in the golf odds to do so.
The Spaniard faces stiff competition at the Emirates Golf Club and two British players are among the shorter-priced players to claim European Tour glory.
Rory McIlroy is expected to go from strength-to-strength this year following a maiden Major success in 2011, and the Northern Irishman is 4/1 favourite to be crowned the winner and close the gap in the world rankings on the only man above him, Luke Donald.
Meanwhile, Lee Westwood is priced at 10/1, and as a two-time runner-up in this competition, he will be looking to go one better this time, and build on impressive top-20 finishes in both the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship and Qatar Masters so far in the early season.
Westwood himself admits he is performing better than usual for such an early stage of the season, telling ESPN: “I’d say if I was making an appraisal of the first couple of weeks, I’ve hit a little better than I normally do this time of year. My short game is a little sharper than normal, and the putting is quite nice – I’m starting to roll a few longer ones in.”
Away from the British talents, 9/1 Martin Kaymer looks a big threat, having finished ninth in the Qatar Masters and showing glimpses that he could be about to hit peak form in the latter stages of that tournament.
Thomas Bjorn also looks way too big at 25/1, having recovered well from a shaky start in Qatar to record impressive scores on his second and third rounds, while Jean-Baptiste Gonnet, with fourth and 14th-place finishes in his two appearances in this tournament, is a monster 50/1 to cause an upset.
