Steve Palmer's Hero Cup predictions and free golf betting tips

Golf tips, best bets and player analysis for the Hero Cup at Abu Dhabi Golf Club on the DP World Tour.

Where to watch

Live on Sky Sports Golf from 8am on Friday

Best bets

Draw
1pt 12-1 general
Thomas Detry top Continental European
1pt 13-2 bet365, Coral, Ladbrokes
Tommy Fleetwood top Great Britain & Ireland
1pt 5-1 bet365, Coral, Ladbrokes

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The United States get to compete in the Presidents Cup in non-Ryder Cup years, keeping them invested in team-matchplay golf and able to try out new pairings, and Europe are hoping the Hero Cup will provide similarly useful practice.

The key difference between the Presidents Cup and the Hero Cup is that Europeans will be competing against each other this week – Continentals versus Great Britain and Ireland – but the event gives European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald a chance to test out potential picks.

Steve Palmer's top tip

Draw 12-1

It is difficult to generate punting passion for the inaugural Hero Cup, with neither 4-5 Great Britain and Ireland nor 13-10 Continentals setting the pulse racing, and preference is for a small wager on the match ending in a tie.

This gentle warm-up for the Ryder Cup, which starts at the end of September, should be a low-key, friendly affair between pals who will hope to be united on Team Europe at the Marco Simone. The relatively meagre prize money adds to the sense that motivation might be low, with $125,000 going to each member of the winning team and $75,000 to each loser.

Great Britain and Ireland have got the three trump cards in the event as Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton and Shane Lowry have won four Abu Dhabi Championships between them at this week's venue and all have Ryder Cup experience. The GB&I tail, though, is arguably weaker than that of the Continentals, who have a nicely balanced squad.

Given how evenly matched the two sides are, it seems entirely feasible that the contest could end up in a 12.5-12.5 tie on Sunday afternoon. The favourites have so many players lacking top-flight matchplay experience – and not many natural pairings. Lowry says he wants to try a new one with compatriot Seamus Power and it is anyone's guess how the line-ups fall.

All ten players must feature all in four sessions so Richard Mansell, Ewen Ferguson and Callum Shinkwin will be fully exposed and Matt Wallace has been in a slump since blowing a golden winning chance in the European Masters in August.

Top Continental European

Thomas Detry 13-2

If the Continentals line up through nationality – and decisions will probably be made by Luke Donald rather than Hero Cup captain Francesco Molinari – then some pairings are fairly straightforward. Victor Perez and Antoine Rozner may comprise a French duo, while Molinari and Guido Migliozzi can team up to advertise a potential all-Italian alliance for the Marco Simone.

The most obvious team of all, though, is that of Thomas Pieters and Thomas Detry, with the latter looking the best bet for top Continental. The Belgians, both a similar age and both graduates of the University of Illinois, won the World Cup together in 2018.

Detry is on the Ryder Cup radar after starting his PGA Tour career in smart fashion and Pieters would love to have his pal alongside him at the Marco Simone. Pieters has not played for a while, with a newborn baby at home, but his Abu Dhabi record is fantastic and he rarely takes long to slip back into form.

JP Fitzgerald is back on Detry's bag this week, bolstering the belief that the Belgians could be the key pairing for the Continentals. Detry and Pieters would be particularly potent in the fourballs, and a winning start on Friday may see them stay together for all three pairs sessions.

Top Great Britain & Ireland

Tommy Fleetwood 5-1

A Thomas may lead the way for the Continentals, while a Tommy should be a key figure for GB&I as Tommy Fleetwood will be looking to put four points on the board for his side on a course he loves.

Fleetwood has twice won the Abu Dhabi Championship at this venue.
There are four members of the GB&I side who seem bankers for the Ryder Cup – Fleetwood, Hatton, Lowry and Marco Simone course winner Robert MacIntyre – while the other six GB&I players have much work to do to get the Ryder Cup gig.

If Donald wants Fleetwood to prepare for the Ryder Cup then it follows that he will be paired with Hatton, Lowry or MacIntyre. The powers that be may not see it that way – maybe Lowry will get his wish to play with Power, and Fleetwood will be paired with one of the inexperienced Englishmen – but whoever links up with Fleetwood has a strong chance of winning points this week.

Lowry and Hatton won a point for Europe together in the last Ryder Cup, despite being on a team which lost 19-9, so that pairing might get another outing this week. Lowry and Hatton are the obvious alternatives for top GB&I, but Nedbank Challenge champion Fleetwood seems the safest investment.

Abu Dhabi GC course guide

Course Abu Dhabi Golf Club, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Prize money $2m ($125,000 to each member of winning team; $75,000 to each member of losing team)
Length 7,642 yards
Par 72 – four par-fives; ten par-fours; four par-threes
Field Two teams of ten

Format – Friday 7.05am Five fourballs matches Saturday 3.35am Five foursomes matches; 8.20am Five foursomes matches Sunday 6.35am Ten singles

Teams – Continental Europe Francesco Molinari (captain), Thomas Detry, Nicolai Hojgaard, Adrian Meronk, Guido Migliozzi, Alex Noren, Victor Perez, Thomas Pieters, Antoine Rozner, Sepp Straka; Great Britain & Ireland Tommy Fleetwood (captain), Ewen Ferguson, Tyrrell Hatton, Shane Lowry, Robert MacIntyre, Richard Mansell, Seamus Power, Callum Shinkwin, Jordan Smith, Matt Wallace

Highest-ranked players in field (world ranking in brackets) Tommy Fleetwood (24), Tyrrell Hatton (26), Seamus Power (29), Thomas Pieters (38), Alex Noren (39)

Course records – 72 holes 264 Martin Kaymer (2011 Abu Dhabi Championship) 18 holes 62 Henrik Stenson (2006), Shane Lowry (2019)

Course winners taking part Tommy Fleetwood (twice), Shane Lowry, Tyrrell Hatton

When to bet By 7.05am on Friday

When to watch Live on Sky Sports Golf from 8am on Friday

Time difference United Arab Emirates is four hours ahead of UK and Ireland

Course type Parkland

Course overview Abu Dhabi GC is a long, desert layout, which was traditionally a European Tour birdie-fest from 2006 onwards, with an average winning score of 18 under par from the 16 editions of the Abu Dhabi Championship there. The exposed layout has water in play on nine holes, so any wind significantly adds to the difficulty

Weather forecast Sunny and pleasant, with gentle breezes and temperatures around 22C, throughout the event

Type of player suited to the challenge Big-hitters have dominated at Abu Dhabi GC in the past – the likes of Martin Kaymer, Paul Casey, Rickie Fowler and Tommy Fleetwood have flourished – and open desert layouts lend themselves to aggressive golf. The unusually calm forecast puts more of a premium on putting

Key attribute Touch/putting

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