Ras Al Khaimah Championship First-Round Leader Tips: Picks from 66/1 to 80/1

• 80/181.00 Andy Sullivan is becoming the king of R1 bets

• 66/167.00 Scott Jamieson is also a proven fast starter

• 66/167.00 Louis De Jager is another strong R1 performer

Weather forecast for Thursday

It looks a good day for scoring with temperatures starting near 70 and peaking in the early 80s after lunch.

Wind can be a factor here but it's fairly modest throughout: 6-9mph for most of the golfing day. In short, there seems no real bias.

Back Andy Sullivan @ 80/181.00

I'll make no apologies at all for my continuing strategy of picking Andy Sullivan to be first-round leader, especially as we can get him at hefty odds again here.

The Englishman, tipped at 100s, did us another big favour last week when dead-heating for first place at the Dubai Desert Classic after a first-round 67.

He added a second 67 on day two before a weekend collapse but all that does is probably focus him and inflate his FRL odds once more, this time to 80/181.00.

Reading back from last week in Dubai, these are Sullivan's first-round scores in his latest five starts: 67, 68, 67, 66, 67. They've been good enough for Thursday leaderboard positions of 1st, 10th, 3rd, 3rd, 7th.

Also a first-round leader in the ISPS Handa Championship last April and second twice after 18 holes in two of his next four starts, the obvious negative is that he's missed two cuts out of two here at Al Hamra.

There may be something in that but it's overriden by his habitual fast starting so let's give him a spin once again.

Sullivan sets out at 07.40am from the 1st tee.

Back Scott Jamieson @ 66/167.00

Another regular cast member in this series of first-round leader previews is Scott Jamieson and he deserves a role again here.

Jamieson is a little shorter than Sullivan in the betting this time and that's because he does have course form at Al Hamra.

The Scot was the first-round leader here when it staged the 2022 Ras al Khaimah Championship, finishing 21st, while he shot middle rounds of 66-65 when ninth at the Ras al Khaimah Classic a fortnight later.

He again showed his ability to hit the ground running when 12th after day one in last week's Dubai Desert Classic, his opening lap just a shot shy of scraping some place money.

Jamieson was the FRL at the Qatar Masters at the end of October via a 65 and two starts ago he ended day one of the Alfred Dunhill Championship in fourth place.

He's an afternoon starter at 12.05pm from the 10th.

Back Louis De Jager @ 66/167.00

Louis De Jager's bare form in the United Arab Emirates doesn't look anything special but it's a different story if you filter out his round one scores.

In his last two starts at the Dubai Desert Classic and most recent performance here, the South African has finished round one in third, fifth and 11th. The fifth came last week and the 11th here last year.

Al Hamra should be a good fit for a player who likes to thump it with his driver: he's 15th for Driving Distance and 8th for Strokes Gained: Off The Tee this season.

He showed that in part when tied 28th on debut here last year and two top fives (South African Open and Andalucia Masters) in his latest eight DP World Tour starts is encouraging.

De Jager is doing his best work in round one - he's been in the top eight after 18 holes in five of his last 11 starts - so completes our staking plan here.

He's another morning starter at 08.30am from the 10th.

Now read Dave's preview of the Farmers Insurance Open