With the DP World Tour’s 50 top players in action, Tom Jacobs has highlighted the ones to watch…
The DP World Tour Championship always provides a fitting end to the DP World Tour season as the Race to Dubai concludes.
After 41 events in 28 countries, it all boils down to the final four days in Dubai.
The top 50 compete in the season-ending DP World Tour Championship over the Earth course at Jumeirah Golf Estates from November 13-16.
As it stands, Rory McIlroy is closing in on a fourth straight Race to Dubai title and the seventh of his career.
McIlroy fired a stunning 62 in the final round of last week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship to finish in a tie for third, strengthening his lead in the Race to Dubai over England’s Marco Penge.
Realistically, Penge would have to win and hope McIlroy has a rare off week to cause an upset.
Here’s everything you need to know about the 2025 DP World Tour Championship…
2025 DP World Tour Championship key details
Dates: November 13-16, 2025
Venue: Jumeirah Golf Estates (Earth Course), Dubai, UAE
Course: Par 72; 7,675 yards
Format: 72-hole stroke play, no cut
Purse: $10,000,000
Race to Dubai ranking points: 12,000
Defending champion: Rory McIlroy (-15, two-stroke victory)
How to watch the 2025 DP World Tour Championship
US viewers can catch all the action on the Golf Channel.
All times ET
Thursday, November 13: Golf Channel and NBC Sports app from 2am
Friday, November 14: Golf Channel and NBC Sports app from 2am
Saturday, November 15: Golf Channel and NBC Sports app from 2am
Sunday, November 16: Golf Channel and NBC Sports app from 1.30am
UK viewers can catch all the action on Sky Sports Golf.
All times GMT
Thursday, November 13: Sky Sports Golf from 7am
Friday, November 14: Sky Sports Golf from 7am
Saturday, November 15: Sky Sports Golf from 7am
Sunday, November 16: Sky Sports Golf from 6.30am
2025 DP World Tour Championship tee times
Full field details and tee times for the DP World Tour Championship can be found on the DP World Tour’s official championship page.
2025 DP World Tour Championship betting tips
The Banker: Nicolai Hojgaard 22/1 e/w (BetMGM 6 Places 1/5 Odds)
Nicolai Hojgaard won this event two years ago and signposted it really nicely with a T2 finish at the Nedbank Challenge the week before. Fast forward two years, and he’s in the same position again, having finished T3 behind playoff protagonists, Aaron Rai and Tommy Fleetwood, at the Abu Dhabi Championship.
Hojgaard missed a couple of short putts on the back 9 yesterday, with the bogey on 12 proving costly, as he missed the playoff by just one stroke. He also had a shot at making eagle on the last, but just narrowly missed the hole, and in the end his race was run. That left the door open for Rai to win, who beat Tommy Fleetwood in a playoff for the second time in his career, as he took advantage of good form coming in, having finished 3rd last time out at Wentworth.
It’s the same story for Hojgaard this week, who will come into this one fresh off a 3rd-place finish, which adds to a 14th-place finish on the PGA Tour at the Baycurrent Classic and a 2nd-place finish at the British Masters not long before that.
There have been 16 stagings of this DP World Tour Championship (previously the Dubai World Championship), yet there have only been nine different winners. That’s because Rory McIlroy has won it three times, Jon Rahm has won the same number, and both Matt Fitzpatrick and Henrik Stenson have doubled up here. That goes to show that repeat form is always on display here, and there is plenty of reason to think Hojgaard can be the latest to double his win tally here.
First of all, in just two starts in this event, the Dane has finished 4th and 1st. He didn’t play last year so couldn’t defend his title and he also had a year off between the 4th and the 1st, so returning two years later again should certainly stoke the fire within. When he finished 4th on debut it was a bit of an up and down week, but when he won, he led after three of the four rounds, with a 70 on Saturday breaking up an otherwise incredible week for him. He dropped to 5th with that slow round on Saturday but rattled off his best score at the course on Sunday, shooting 64 and leapfrogging those that past him in round 3.
On top of his strong current form, Hojgaard was the second best iron player in the field last week, and his all-round game was on show as he led the field in SG Tee to Green. A better short game this time around will certainly see him contend, but he greatly improved in both around the green and putting this past week, having lost plenty of strokes in his recent starts in those departments. This time around he gained marginally in both, and that is why he was able to take advantage of strong ball striking and challenge at the top of the leaderboard.
Given the confidence he will have coming in and his clear familiarity with the course, Hojgaard has to be a play for me this week at 22/1, as the field is whittled down to just 50 players this week, of which probably only 10-15 have obvious winning credentials.
The Outsider: Marco Penge 28/1 e/w (BetMGM 6 Places 1/5 Odds)
Marco Penge is currently 2nd in the Race to Dubai and in the #1 spot for a PGA Tour card next season, and both are going to motivate him massively this week.
Of course, beating Rory to the Race to Dubai title should be front and centre, and knowing his attitude and makeup it certainly will be for Penge, but there is also huge value in being the leading player among the 10 who will claim PGA Tour cards next season. That is because if he holds that spot, he will gain entry into the Players Championship, Pebble Beach, and the Genesis Invitational, the best way to springboard into a whole new level again. With as many as 2000 points up for grabs this week for the winner, Penge will be wary of anyone not otherwise exempt overtaking him, so he will need to bring his A game this week.
Penge and Tyrrell Hatton are the only players who can deny Rory a seventh Harry Vardon trophy, awarded to the Race to Dubai winner. This would be Rory’s fourth win in a row if successful, so Penge and Hatton would love to be the ones to stop in his tracks, and Penge looks like the type that could cause that shock.
Motivation aside though, there are many reasons to believe Penge can win this title. After all, he’s already contended alongside Rory this season, finishing T2 with him at the Scottish Open, impressing massively on Sunday. While he wasn’t able to catch Chris Gotterup he put in the best effort of the chasing pack, and that’s a good sign when in an elite field. He’s added two titles since then, admittedly in lower grades at the Danish Golf Championship and Open de Espana, but that’s a classic case of winning the events he can play in, as opposed to not being able to step up in bigger fields. 13th at the BMW PGA Championship and 9th last week at the Abu Dhabi Championship, two big events where he was also making his debut, can attest to that.
Playing with McIlroy for the first two rounds last week would have been key, as he’s never played with his idol, and getting that experience, and all the pressures that come with it will be important for his short and long-term success. He got the better of Rory in the opening two rounds, shooting 67-68 to sit 20th after round 1 and 17th after round 2, while Rory shot a pair of 68s to sit 20th at halfway. That’s another good sign, as he will be in direct competition with him again this week.
As the first three-time winner on the DP World Tour this season, Penge has been an eye-catching player all season long and given he signed off with a final round 63 on Sunday, he should come into this test with a lot of confidence.
I love Penge’s attitude, he talked about a couple of mental errors this past week but overall being very happy with the shape of his game, and that showed as he bowed out with a 63 on Sunday. Do I know that he can go toe-to-toe with Rory and beat him on such a big stage? No. Do I think he’s capable though, Yes. I truly believe Penge is destined for greater things and he’s not shied away from the challenge of McIlroy so far in 2025, so I am confident he will give it a real good go on a course that should suit this week. At 28/1 I think he’s overpriced.
The Longshot: Laurie Canter 85/1 e/w (SpreadEx 5 Places 1/4 Odds)
If my first two picks are obvious, I am going to go slightly off the beaten path for my longshot, as you would expect. It’s hard to envisage a true longshot winning this event, when you look at the names on the trophy here, but the likes of Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Alexander Bjork have come close in the past, and Laurie Canter is every bit as talented as they are, and is showing it more regularly now, as a two-time DP World Tour winner.
Canter won in Bahrain earlier this year, adding to his 2024 European Open victory, and he will now be on the hunt for the biggest prize of the season, a win at the DP World Tour Championship, and a PGA Tour card.
When Canter made the decision to play as a fill-in on the LIV Tour, it now feels like an opportunity missed to stay and establish himself as one of the best DP World Tour players, but hindsight is a wonderful thing, and I cannot blame him for the decision he made, which was undoubtedly hard to ignore in the short-term. He’s now bounced back and become a two-time DP World Tour winner since, and that goes to show just how capable he is. To bounce back from a career decision, knuckle down and make the most of his return to the DP World Tour has been really pleasing, and given he’s threatened to win again recently, I think he can impress here at a course he’s enjoyed in the past.
Canter has already become the first former LIV Player to play in a strictly PGA Tour event, having made the Players Championship earlier this season, and now he will want to establish himself on their full-time, something he’s currently in the mix for. Ranking 11th in the Race to Dubai, Canter currently holds one of the 10 PGA Tour cards, and quite frankly should hold on. With that said, another big performance here will bolster his profile further and this would certainly be his biggest win to date, should he win here in Dubai.
He could do as well, as he was the 54-hole leader here on debut back in 2020, eventually settling for 5th place. Since then he’s finished 27th and 14th, but on both occasions he’s shot a pair of 68s to improve his position, and after finishing 2nd in Korea two starts ago and 23rd last week, I think he can have a real go here on his fourth visit.
His 23rd place finish last week doesn’t jump off the page, but he was 10th at halfway and drove the ball brilliantly, ranking only behind Penge and Rory for strokes gained off the tee, so that part of his game at least is in fine fettle.
Two top four finishes at the Dubai Desert Classic and 5th here in the past, Canter clearly enjoys playing in this part of the world, and if he continues his form from his past two starts and leans on his positive course experience, he could be in for a career-week here.
The Bonus Bet: Andy Sullivan 80/1 e/w (BetMGM 6 Places 1/5 Odds)
With just 50 players in the field, you may not be inclined to go for as many as four players this week, but if you did want to add to your card, I strongly recommend giving Andy Sullivan a cursory glance.
Sullivan has been rolling back the years in recent weeks, and as a player who finished runner-up here to Rory McIlroy at the peak of his powers in 2015, he’s someone who could surprise a few in the season-ender.
The former Ryder-Cupper has done well to even get back to this point as he’s battled with his game in recent years, but as someone who has destroyed fields, winning by 9 strokes and 7 strokes respectively in his two most recent wins, he is someone who should be respected when in form.
Sullivan finished 24th here last year after a three-year absence, but before that he had added two 10th-place finishes to his 2nd in 2015, and he clearly knows how to score around the Earth Course.
While he’s never won in the Middle East, Sullivan is a three-time runner-up in this part of the world, with 2nds in this event, the Dubai Desert Classic and the Golf in Dubai Championship. Multiple other top 5 finishes show his affinity for Dubai and the wider Middle-East, and a win here would certainly make sense given his efforts here over the years.
He’s now finished 15th, 4th and 7th in his past three starts, getting hot at the very best time, and while he just lacked the very low round that would have vaulted him into contention last week, Sullivan was incredibly steady, shooting 65-67-67 in the first three rounds, and was unlucky that his Sunday 68 saw him drop two spots on the leaderboard. He’s now ranked 7th and 8th in SG Approach the past two starts and was 10th in SG Tee to Green last week, so he’s in great form, heading to a course he enjoys.
One thing that can levied against Sullivan is his lack of big wins, but he’s been prominent on huge stages, including the 2016 Ryder Cup, and when Rory’s closest challenger here in 2015. He led for the first three rounds that week, and just wasn’t able to hold off the challenge of the charging McIlroy. He was tied for the lead after round 1, and then held a narrow one shot lead for the next two rounds, so it’s no surprise he lost out to Rory on the final day, and you could argue losing by just one stroke to the best player of a generation is not bad at all.
I like Sullivan and really want him to do well, but more than that he’s shown that at 38 he’s ready to go again for the second half of his career, and as a four-time winner, with a lot of positive experience in the Middle East, he has the credentials to go well here at the DP World Tour Championship.
