Dubai Desert Classic 2026 First-Round Leader Tips: Dave Tindall's three to back up to 90/1

• 60/161.00 Victor Perez is a strong wind player with a good draw

• 90/191.00 Brandon Stone has a great R1 record in the UAE

• 55/156.00 Ryan Fox was FRL at the recent Australian Open

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Weather forecast for Thursday

Sun is pretty much guaranteed in this part of the world and temperatures are locked in at a steady and consistent 75 degrees for the whole golfing day.

Wind can come and go and on Saturday it looks pretty calm.

But for Thursday's opener, it's set to gust at 22mph in the afternoon.

It's a windy start too but drops to 10mph mid-morning so an early start looks best as at least some of the round will be played in those calmer conditions.

FRL Bet 1: Victor Perez @ 60/161.00

With wins at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, Victor Perez has shown he's a strong performer in the wind.

The latter also highlights prowess in the desert and in his last four starts in this event Perez was second after 54 holes in 2020 and fourth with a lap to play in 2023. On that visit, his most recent, the Frenchman was seventh on the R1 leaderboard after an opening 67.

He tees off at 08:35 so the plan is that he gets some gentler conditions early before his ball-striking and wind skills kick in later in the round.

Perez, who moved to LIV at the end of last year, has a bunch of other fast starts in the UAE and once led the DP World Tour Championship after 18 holes. 

On his penultimate PGA Tour start before he gave up membership, the 33-year-old set out with a pair of 65s in November's World Wide Technology Championship in Mexico.

Back him at 60/161.00 (1/4, 5 places).  

FRL Bet 2: Brandon Stone @ 90/191.00

A favourable tee-time plus being a strong ball-striker for when the wind comes is the recipe I'm looking at here.

Brandon Stone fits the bill and the South African, who tees off at 07:15, looks a nice price at 90s.

The former Scottish Open winner showed improved form in the closing months of 2025, first finishing 31st in the South African PGA, adding 23rd in the Alfred Dunhill Championship before jumping to ninth at the Mauritius Open.

In the latter two, he started fast and was third after day one in both events via respective rounds of 64 and 68.

Stone is a former runner-up at the Dubai Desert Classic (2021) and he's been inside the top 20 after round one in his last three visits.

Widen it out and he's been in the top five through 18 holes in four of his last eight starts in the UAE and in the top 12 at close of play in seven of the last nine.

FRL Bet 3: Ryan Fox @ 55/156.00

It's tempting to keep it simple and have a win only bet on Rory McIlroy given that he's a four-time FRL in this event and also set the pace with a 66 in last week's Dubai Invitational.

He even has the ideal tee-time of 08:05 alongside Ryder Cup colleagues Tommy Fleetwood and Tyrrell Hatton but the 12s has been cut to 10s and that's just a bit short.

Instead I'll have an each-way punt on Ryan Fox at 55/156.00.

The Kiwi has played lots of good golf in the wind and tees off in the group after McIlroy at 08:15.

He couldn't get it out of second gear when 27th in last week's Dubai Invitational but hopefully that will act as decent prep for this.

Fox was the first-round leader at last month's Australian Open via a 65 and fifth on Thursday's closing leaderboard at the Aussie PGA the week before.

Last year in this event he sat ninth after the opening lap and fourth with a round to play before finishing 10th.

He's also been FRL at another UAE event, the 2022 Ras al Khaimah Classic, thanks to a 63.

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