The Desert swing continues with the annual jaunt to the Emirates, thankfully not the London stadium where entertainment is in the gutter...depending on your affiliation of course. The Majlis Course has long since been the home of this event and we have plenty of interesting talking points as we survey the market. The course isn't so demanding off the tee, certainly not as much as last week and probably more birdie opportunities await here. The wind looks sure to blow throughout the event and that is the most interesting aspect to this event. The winners and placers here have been a 'who's who' of Open and Links specialists. 2018 Champion Haotong Li finished 3rd on his first trip over the Open. 2017 Champion and runner up Garcia and Stenson have long been Open experts. McIlroy, Woods, Els and O'Meara are other winners here that have held the Claret Jug aloft. In 2013 and 2014 Stephen Gallacher went back to back here and one of his two other European Tour wins arrived at the Dunhill Links. It pays here to concentrate on this aspect here. The Portugal Open is another relevant link as well as the usual Desert from. These are the weeks we can have a list of around 10-15 golfers and be guaranteed one or two of them will place. We can only hope that we condense that list to the right 5 or 6.

I am mighty tempted by Fleetwood this week. I think he will be a formidable opponent and he is talking a great game ahead of his assault on this title. His finish last week was spectacular and with a gun to my head I'd say he is the winner. The conundrum being that his price is right and there's no value in it. Finding value in golf betting isn't everything, finding winners is just as important. However, I find 5 or 6 golfers that are much better value than Fleetwood and this forces my hand to swerve the favourite despite my feeling that he will be hard to topple.

The main reason for the swerve is that BERND WIESBERGER (25-1 / 7 places) is nearly four times the price of the jolly and I can't have that in the slightest. Oosthuizen and Fitzpatrick are in fine shape but look mighty short for golfers not finding it easy to get over the line lately. Wiesberger has looked every inch a top 10-15 golfer in the world over the past six months and I won't let one poor round on Sunday deflect from the fact that he is one of the form golfers in the field. I do believe Wiesberger could make his presence felt in Major Championships this year and I expect a win before they kick off in April. The Austrian has a win on Scottish links and two runner ups on Irish links tracks as well as a host of Desert form. I believe he holds similar chances to Oosthuizen and Fitzpatrick who are both too short and at 25/1 Bernd just has to be backed once again.

1.5pts each-way B.Wiesberger 25/1 (1/5 7 places)

Bernd Wiesberger - 1.5pts e/w @ 25/1

ERIK VAN ROOYEN (40-1 / 7 places) matched and bettered plenty during the final three rounds last week to eventually finish 12th and must hold a lively chance of landing his second tour win. He looks to be maturing into a classy golfer and now sits pretty inside the top 50 in the world courtesy of his last few efforts. Back to back top 20s in Scotland and Portrush last Summer enhanced his decent links record thus far having lead the Irish Open at Ballyliffin in 2018 heading into day four before finishing a disappointing 4th. A runner up finish in Qatar last year is another positive. Garcia went well last week but the South African is a much better proposition at double the price.

1pt each-way E.van Rooyen 40/1 (1/5 7 places)

Erik van Rooyen - 1pt e/w @ 40/1

BRANDON STONE (125-1 / 7 places) looks a huge price to convert this week given his pedigree. Finishing 66-69 at the weekend was a sign that any early year rust has been shaken off and he should be in fine shape to launch a bid here in Dubai. Stone on his day has bags of talent and given four good days could contest for some of the best titles on the planet. There is no doubt he is plagued with inconsistency though and I'd usually urge caution. He went off a silly short price in the Dunhill a few weeks ago and duly succumbed to a poor performance. That being said triple figures here looks a lovely bet. He has the runner up spot in Portugal secured a few months ago and a Links win to his name winning the Scottish Open. Fingers crossed he's on a going week.

1pt each-way B.Stone 125/1 (1/5 7 places)

Brandon Stone - 1pt e/w @ 125/1

TOM LEWIS (80-1 / 8 places) is a name that pops up time and time again when you consider Links form. He has a dull record here but is 6/6 cuts made which is surely a positive for someone who is a much better golfer now than what he was during those previous efforts. Recent links form is super with 5th at the Dunhill Links and 11th at the Open in Portrush. 3rd in the Saudi International and 6th in the DP World Tour show us his Desert form is in fine shape also. Two Portugal wins also spell the perfect CV for a win here. A missed cut last week isn't ideal but the rust is shaken off after an 8 week lay off and can be expected to go much better around this track.

1pt each-way T.Lewis 80/1 (1/5 8 places)

Tom Lewis - 1pt e/w @ 80/1

ADRI ARNAUS (90-1 / 7 places) looks a special talent at this stage and it probably won't be too long before this ballsy type gets over the line. Giving his fledgling career is only taking off he has had little chance to gain the links/desert record that we look for. That being said a top 20 in Ireland and a win in Challenge Tour Grand Final near Dubai are huge positives. He bagged three runner up finishes on his maiden year on tour and looks too good a talent not to walk through the door some time soon. His 2019 was super, and somewhat underrated given Kitayama and MacIntyre lit it up. It will pay to keep an eye on this kid in the market and anything towards triple figures any week will suffice.

1pt each-way A.Arnaus 90/1 (1/5 7 places)

Adri Arnaus - 1pt e/w @ 90/1

JORDAN SMITH (90-1 / 8 places) has made 9 cuts on the trot which represents one of the most consistent periods of his career so far. A first round of 74 put him behind the 8 ball last week but a super finish of 68-67-69 saw him finish just outside the top 20. He gained shots in all departments last week and can take confidence from that result heading to the Emirates. Finishing 3rd at Walton Heath, 5th at the Dunhill Links, 6th in Qatar and 12th in the DP World Tour shows us he has the tools for this test. Going under the radar and could land his second win this week in Dubai. Burmester and Scrivener were another two who caught the eye and alongside Fleetwood will be the ones to stick pins in if they oblige without us on.

0.75pt each-way J.Smith 90/1 (1/5 8 places)

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Jordan Smith - 0.75pts e/w @ 90/1