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Steve Palmer's Dubai Championship final-round preview, best bets, free golf tips

Min Woo Lee and Tommy Fleetwood can serve up a feast of Sunday birdies

Tommy Fleetwood is three shots off the pace
Tommy Fleetwood is three shots off the paceCredit: Andrew Redington

Where to watch

Sky Sports Main Event & Golf, 7.30am Sunday

Best bets

Tommy Fleetwood top-five finish
2pts 5-6 Betfair, Power

Story so far

JB Hansen and Francesco Laporta, 50-1 and 66-1 respectively ante-post, are tied atop the Dubai Championship leaderboard with 18 holes to play.

The Dane and Italian both carded Saturday 67s from the final third-round threeball, edging them ahead of playing partner Antoine Rozner. Hansen is 5-2 going into Sunday, with Laporta at 3-1.

Paul Casey and Tommy Fleetwood came into the tournament as 11-1 joint-favourites. Casey has become a 50-1 chance, with a five-shot final-round deficit to overcome, while Fleetwood is 9-1 from two shots closer.

Min Woo Lee, the highest player in the Race to Dubai standings, is tied for fifth place with Fleetwood at 16 under par. Lee and Fleetwood will start round four three shots behind.

Leaderboard
-19 JB Hansen, Francesco Laporta
-18 Antoine Rozner
-17 Kalle Samooja
-16 Min Woo Lee, Tommy Fleetwood
-15 Jazz Janewattananond, Martin Kaymer, Bernd Wiesberger

Best prices
5-2 JB Hansen, 100-30 F Laporta, 4 A Rozner, 9 T Fleetwood, 11 M W Lee, 12 K Samooja, 22 B Wiesberger, 40 M Kaymer, 50 P Casey, 66 J Janewattananond, 100 bar

Final-round preview

The top of the Fire Course leaderboard is congested and anyone within four shots of the pacesetting duo will feel they are still in with a good chance of success.

Antoine Rozner carved through the field on the final day of last year's inaugural event to win by two shots. He started that round four shots behind, tied for fifth place, but covered the back nine in five under par on his way to a 64.

Rozner is well in the hunt for a successful title defence, continuing his love affair with the Fire Course, and the Qatar Masters champion could top and tail his season with Middle East triumphs.

Alongside Rozner in his Sunday threeball last year was Francesco Laporta, who closed with four consecutive birdies to finish tied for second place. Maybe the Frenchman and the Italian can inspire each other again. JB Hansen replaces Ross Fisher as the final member of the Rozner-Laporta threeball this year.

Rozner and Laporta clearly relish the Fire Course. Two-time European Tour champion Rozner would be slightly preferred to Tour maiden Laporta at the prices. Hansen's lone Tour triumph came in the low-grade Joburg Open almost exactly a year ago.

Rozner, a shot behind and the biggest odds at 4-1, is the recommendation for punters wishing to support a member of the final threeball.

More birdies, though, may come from the penultimate group, featuring Min Woo Lee, Tommy Fleetwood and Kalle Samooja.
Min Woo Lee has been driving with great assurance and failing to sparkle on the greens, his rounds of 67, 67 and 66 build on long-game solidity. Any warming of his putter on Sunday and the three-shot deficit could be quickly dealt with.

Fleetwood looked to be drifting well out of contention after a miserable front nine on Saturday, but a six-under-par, bogey-free back nine propelled the Englishman back into the thick of things.

Lee and Fleetwood, who played together for the first two days, have been reunited for the denouement and could put on a show a hot, sunny afternoon with gentle breezes. Samooja is a Tour maiden, but the Finn has been putting superbly this week and should not be dismissed either.

This is a wide-open shootout. Racing Post Sport's No. 1 pre-tournament recommendation - Min Woo Lee at 25-1 - is still well in the hunt. Fleetwood, Rozner, Laporta, Hansen and Samooja are all capable of victory, too, though.

Fleetwood at a shade of odds-on for a top-five finish seems more than fair. The way he fought back into the tournament on Saturday stands him in great stead for Sunday. Hansen, Laporta and Rozner are scheduled on the tee at 7.30am UK and Ireland time.


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