Bahrain Championship Betting Tips 2026: Can Our Expert Panel Make It Back-To-Back Wins?

It feels inevitable that our expert panel will go close again with their Bahrain Championship 2026 betting tips, after picking the winner in Dubai last week as well as two further top-10 finishers at decent prices.

Patrick Reed cruised to victory at the Dubai Desert Classic, tipped at a massive +4000 by Elliott Heath, taking the panel's total to 18 winners since the start of 2025.

With a decent field on display in Bahrain, the team have been crunching the numbers and casting their eye over the desert swing to pick out some great value tips that could help us go back-to-back in terms of successful tips...

Dubai Desert Classic Betting Tips 2026

Tips by...

Tips by...

Baz Plummer

For any first time readers of my betting tips, I'm Baz. I have years of experience writing golf betting content across the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LPGA Tour and LIV Golf - plus all the men's and women's Majors. I have successfully picked three of the last five men's Major winners, utilising a heavily-researched and data-driven formula which centres around a clear mantra... follow the trends! You can find my best bets in my weekly column, 'Bazza's Best Bets' via the Golf Monthly betting hub.

Pick One: Julien Guerrier To Win (+2800) @ BetMGM

I've gone for a couple of Frenchman in this week's event, the first of which is an in-form Julien Guerrier.

An impressive display in the wind on Sunday saw him sneak into third place at the Dubai Desert Classic, but he was also tied for 3rd the week before at the Dubai Invitational - so is clearly playing great golf at the start of 2026.

Guerrier was 21st in this event last year, and 8th the year before, so has the form box ticked. He also ranked 2nd for Strokes Gained: Tee To Green last week, assisted by a strong short game, so expect him to go close again on this ball-strikers paradise.

Pick Two: Martin Couvra To Win (+3300) @ BetMGM

Martin Couvra was another player who had a good week last time out, finishing 10th at the Dubai Desert Classic, adding to strong displays in the first two events of the season that saw him bank a T7 at the Alfred Dunhill Championship.

Couvra was 4th in this event last year and has since secured his first DP World Tour win at the Turkish Airlines Open, so I believe he arrives this week with a strong chance of improving on that first effort.

The Frenchman ranked 4th for SG: Tee To Green last week, so there is a lot to like at a big price.

Elliott Heath

Elliott Heath is our News Editor and has been with Golf Monthly since early 2016 after graduating with a degree in Sports Journalism. He manages the Golf Monthly news team as well as our large Facebook, X and Instagram pages. He covered the 2022 and 2025 Masters from Augusta National and was there by the 18th green to watch Rory McIlroy complete the career grand slam. He has also covered five Open Championships on-site including the 150th at St Andrews.

Pick One: Andrea Pavan To Finish In The Top-10 @ BetMGM

I find it difficult to look past the likes of Patrick Reed and Daniel Hillier for victory this week, so I’ll instead be opting for two outsiders in the top-10 market.

First up will be Andrea Pavan following his strong showing in Dubai. The Italian faded a bit under the pressure over the weekend with a closing 75 to drop to T14th but Emirates GC is a very demanding course so he clearly has a well-behaving golf swing right now.

Up against a more forgiving test with less pressure and in a weaker field, I think he can easily go and contend again this week. He was T13 here last year and I’m expecting him to go a bit better this time around.

Pick Two: Ricardo Gouveia To Finish In The Top-10 @ BetMGM

The Portuguese journeyman is another who played very well last week to finish T7th, which was actually the 15th-best result in terms of OWGR points in his 12-year career.

Gouveia played superbly well and he has some form in Bahrain, having been T21st last year at nine-under-par.

He is a seven-time HotelPlanner Tour winner who has never broken through on the DP World Tour, and I’m hoping it could well be this week he finally gets his hands on a DPWT trophy. To be safe, I’ll back him in the each-way and top-10 finish markets.

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Tips by...

Tips by...

Matt Cradock

Matt joined Golf Monthly in February 2021 covering weekend news, before also transitioning to equipment and testing. After freelancing for Golf Monthly and The PGA for 18 months, he was offered a full-time position at the company in October 2022 and continues to cover news and social media.

Pick One: Andy Sullivan To Win (+3500) @ BetMGM

The Englishman produced a fine finish at the Dubai Desert Classic to finish solo second and earn the biggest paycheck of his career, with Sullivan possessing eye-catching odds given his recent form.

Along with the runner-up place, he was T8th at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in December and had a three-event run from the DP World India Championship to the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship where he finished T15th, T4th and T7th.

At last year's Bahrain Championship, he finished T38th, so a mix of previous form and confident-inducing results means he's a good price this week.

Pick Two: Richie Ramsay To Win (+9000) Or Top-10 Finish @ BetMGM

My second pick is Richie Ramsay, who finished in a share of fourth and one back of the leaders at this event last year after carding rounds of 66, 72, 69 and 68. Had it not been for the level-par second round, he may well have gone on to win.

Either way, a good week at the Dubai Desert Classic makes up for a poor run of form at the end of 2025, a year that did include some decent results.

Returning to an event where he has history is always going to provide a nice boost of confidence, hence why I think Ramsay could well place this week.

Tips by...

Tips by...

Jonny Leighfield

Jonny Leighfield is our Staff News Writer who joined Golf Monthly just in time for the 2023 Solheim Cup and Ryder Cup. He graduated from the University of Brighton with a degree in Sport Journalism in 2017 and spent almost five years as the sole sports reporter at his local newspaper. During his time with Golf Monthly, Jonny has interviewed several stars of the game, including Robert MacIntyre, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, and Joaquin Niemann.

Pick One: Daniel Hillier To Win (+2000) @ BetMGM

This time of year is quite tough to predict who will do well, but given the DP World Tour has a wraparound schedule, it's slightly easier to judge form.

The most in-form player on the circuit right now is arguably Daniel Hillier, with four top-10s in his past six starts.

In addition to strong run of results, the Kiwi's excellent approach game and putting stats suggest he can capitalize at Royal Golf Club just like Laurie Canter did 12 months ago.

Pick Two: Joost Luiten To Win (+4500) @ BetMGM

Luiten has often performed well at courses which place a premium on accuracy as opposed to power - see last year's Hero Indian Open (3rd), DP World India Championship (T6th) and Nedbank Golf Challenge (T10th), so I'm wondering whether he might be cut out for a run at the title off the back of some decent golf of late and a top-20 here last year.

The field is wide open this week and it feels to me like someone a little out of left-field could win, hence I've gone for Luiten who hasn't won on the DP World Tour since the 2018 Oman Open.

Golf Monthly Expert Betting Panel Winning Picks (Since Start Of 2025)