DP World Tour Championship First-Round Leader Tips: Picks from 40/1 to 66/1

• 40/141.00 Antoine Rozner arrives in excellent form

• 66/167.00 Adrian Otaegui is a former FRL here

• 40/141.00 Johannes Veerman has been starting fast

Weather forecast for Thursday

The field of just 50 splits into 25 two-balls, who head out in Race to Dubai order. The opening group is away at 08:30 while the final pairing of Rory McIlroy and Thriston Lawrence tee off at 12.45.

Temperatures rise from around 80 degrees for the early starters to the low-to-mid 90s by 11am and then stay there for the rest of the golfing day.

As for the wind, it could pick up after midday, rising from around 8mph to 15mph.

Antoine Rozner @ 40/141.00

What do Matthieu Pavon, Victor Perez and Mike Lorenzo-Vera have in common?

There are two answers to this: one easy, one hard.

The first, of course, is that they're all French but a huge pat on the back if you know the second which is that the trio have all been recent first-round leaders of the DP World Tour Championship.

This is a big coincidence of course but as Antoine Rozner was my initial thought for this market, I'll use it as a way in.

Rozner is 40/141.00 to repeat the feats of Pavon (2023), Perez (2020) and Lorenzo-Vera (2019) and if he plays like he did for the final 54 holes in Abu Dhabi last week, it could be a good move to back him.

An opening 73 ruined his chances of victory in Abu Dhabi but rounds of 65-67-63 hauled Rozner from 67th after 18 holes into a tie for sixth. That followed his fourth place at the Genesis Championship.

The first-round leader in Mauritius last December, Rozner started brightly in this event last year when fourth after day one and second at halfway after laps of 68 and 67.

A strong performer in the region, let's cheer him on from his 11.00 tee-time.

Adrian Otaegui @ 66/167.00

Adrian Otaegui enjoys this event and has finished 18th or better in his last four visits.

That run includes a fourth place in 2018 when he emerged as a first-round leader thanks to a 66.

He's also recorded that same 6-under lap in round two in 2020 and in round four last year which bodes well.

That number pops up again when looking at his very recent form as Otaegui opened with a 66 in round one of last week's Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship although he couldn't build on it.

The Spaniard has an early-ish start at 09.45 so hopefully he can make a mark before the winds pick up later.

He looks a spot of value at 66/167.00.

Johannes Veerman @ 40/141.00

Johannes Veerman has an even earlier start than Otaegui and tees off in the sixth two-ball of the day at 09.20.

The American is on a bit of a roll in terms of fast starts.

He laid down a 65 on day one of the Andalucia Masters to sit fourth while last week he ended the first round in second place thanks to a 63.

With form of 8-14-14-27 in his last four starts, Veerman is playing some strong golf so the only other question is does he have any form here?

The answer is yes. The 32-year-old has only played this event once but back in 2021 he was fifth after day one via a 68 and eventually finished 21st after starting the final round in 10th.

Now read Dave's Bermuda Championship each-way preview here.