The stats guru at European Tour HQ has picked three players to watch, with Louis Oosthuizen among those expected to run it close at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.

READ: Louis up one in latest rankings

The spectacular Majlis course at Emirates Golf Club is the stop for the sixth event of the season, and the second in the Middle East following last week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

South Africa’s Richard Sterne was second, with Oosthuizen alone in fourth. Now he’s being tipped to win as he is the ‘form horse’ just 90 miles north.

They say:

‘If Louis Oosthuizen has started this season as he means to go on, it could be a very successful year. In three European Tour appearances this season, Oosthuizen has yet to finish outside the top seven. He took victory at the South African Open hosted by the City of Johannesburg in December, his ninth win on Tour, and has followed it up with two more strong results. A tie for seventh in the Alfred Dunhill Championship before Christmas was followed by outright fourth in Abu Dhabi last week, meaning he comes into this week a man in serious form.

The 36-year-old’s best result at this event was third 11 years ago, but his strong form of late suggests he could be in line to match or better that this week.’

*The European Tour’s stats guru has picked Rafa Cabrera Bello as the favourite and Alexander Bjork as the wild card