Laurie Canter came through a tightly fought final day to win last week’s thrilling Bahrain Championship.
2024/2025 DP World Tour
Commercial Bank Qatar Masters
Doha Golf Club, Doha, Qatar
6th-9th February
It was anybody’s championship, with 20 players within three shots of the lead going into the final nine. Pablo Larrazabal seemed to have the tournament in his hands but made a mess of his final hole, missing a 6-footer that would have given him yet another European victory. There was ultimately a three-man playoff, with Canter beating Larrazabal and Brown on the very first playoff hole. The tour moves swiftly on to the final leg of this five-tournament Middle East swing: the Qatar Masters. The Qatar Masters has undergone some significant changes over the past few years. Founded in 1998, the Qatar Masters was originally one of only two events staged in the Arabian Peninsula. The event picked up momentum until tensions in the Arab world led to it being moved to a later slot in the schedule, resulting in a decrease in prize money and prestige. The DP World Tour attempted to address that issue by making it the final full-field event of the 2023 roster. It returned to an early-season timeslot last year but it still lacks much of its former glory.
Designed by Peter Harradine, Doha Golf Club is the traditional host course of the Qatar Masters. Tournament organizers temporarily moved the event to Education City in 2020 and 2021. Thankfully, the organizers came to their senses and this will be the 4th successive event hosted at the OG course. This is a typical exposed desert layout, measuring at just a smidge under 7,500 yards. The fairways are narrow by desert standards (though that is mitigated by minimal rough). Players with strong tee-to-green games should thrive at Doha Golf Club. The chief protection for this course- as with many exposed layouts- is wind. As with many of the previous Middle East events, it’s always advisable to look for players with a solid bank of desert form. Also, links specialists tend to thrive on these exposed layouts and this year should be no different. The relatively new paspalum putting surfaces are brisk and require some guile.
Laurie Canter remains in the Middle East and will be looking to pick up his third successive podium finish. Pablo Larrazabal will be looking to bounce back after last week’s heartbreaking near-miss. The Spaniard has a strong Doha record and should be hyper-motivated this week. In truth, there is a really strong Spanish contingent this week, with the likes of Campillo and Elvira boasting solid Doha records. 2022 champion Ewen Ferguson has missed his last two cuts but remains a dangerous lurker in this decimated lineup. Jordan Smith has been in consistent- if unremarkable-form. Dan Brown could also be a nice sleeper pick after that playoff defeat in Bahrain.
Past Winners
2024: Rikuya Hoshino (-14)
2023: Sami Valimaki (-18)
2022: Ewen Ferguson (-7)
2021: Antoine Rozner (-8) *Education City
2020: Jorge Campillo (-13) *playoff at Education City
2019: Justin Harding (-13)
Betting Favourites (To Win):
Value Bets
Keita Nakajima- To Win, To Place
Keita Nakajima will be looking to match compatriot Rikuya Hoshino and make it back-to-back Japanese champs. He isn’t in the greatest immediate form, missing the cut at both the Ras al Khamiah and Bahrain Championships. But he picked up some strong desert results at the more illustrious events, finishing T13 at Yas Links and T7 at the Earth Course. He won his maiden DP World Tour event at last year’s Hero Indian Open and he could be due another close call.
Marcus Armitage- To Win, To Place
Marcus Armitage is a more attractive price after missing the cut at last week’s Bahrain Championship. It wasn’t a huge surprise after he flirted with winning a 2nd DP World Tour title at the previous week’s Ras al Khamiah Championship. Affectionately known as ‘The Bullet’, Armitage was excellent at Al Hamra, opening with a blistering round of 63. There are some winds predicted this week and I think that Armitage should thrive in the more blustery conditions. He finished 5th here in 2022 and also finished 12th at Education City in 2020 (which shares geography with this week’s venue). He also knows how to plays in linksy conditions, finishing runner-up at the 2023 Dunhill Links.
The Man to Beat- Jorge Campillo- To Win, To Place
This is a true ‘horses for courses’ pick. The experienced Spaniard has been in middling form since the start of this season, coming into this event with form figures of T13-T47-MC-MC-T13. I’m hoping that his solid T13 at last week’s Bahrain Championship will be a catalyst for a strong showing. And as I alluded to, Campillo has produced some excellent results here in the past, with five top 20 finishes in his previous eight starts (including a playoff defeat in 2023). He actually won this event during its brief stint at Education City.
