Commercial Bank Qatar Masters
Adrian Meronk was snubbed from Team Europe for the Ryder Cup a couple of months back. He has now won four times on the DP World Tour in the last 17 months with his victory last weekend at the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucia Masters. Meronk began the final round four shots behind the lead and fell as many as seven back when he bogeyed two of his first three holes Sunday. Then he buoyed his round with eagles on Nos. 6 and 9 before making four birdies on the back nine to surge ahead of Matti Schmid and win the tournament by one shot at 16 under.
Meronk moved to No. 3 in the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai behind Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm. This is especially significant because, for the first time this year, the PGA Tour will award PGA Tour cards to the top 10 players on the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai ranking at the end of the season, and the first current non-member who is highest ranked on that list will now be afforded full status on the PGA Tour. As of now, that honor goes to Meronk.
This week, the DP World Tour heads to the Middle East for the Commerical Bank Qatar Masters in Doha. This week’s field features many players hopeful of moving up in the Race to Dubai standings, including Jordan Smith (20-1). Thorbjorn Olesen (22-1), Alexander Bjork (25-1) and Robert MacIntyre (30-1) would be part of that top 10 list to earn PGA Tour cards as things stand. Aaron Rai (25-1) already has PGA Tour status having finished in the top 70 in the FedEx Cup points.
Rasmus Hojgaard (25-1), Yannik Paul (28-1) and Romain Langasque (30-1) are just outside that top 10. Matt Wallace (30-1) has full PGA Tour status from his win at the Corales Puntacana Championship this past March.
Ewen Ferguson (35-1) returns to Doha to defend his title from last year, and Adrian Otaegui (35-1), who finished fifth last year, is back as well.
The Event
The Qatar Masters was established in 1998 and every one of its tournaments has been housed at the Doha Golf Club with the exception of 2020 and 2021 when the event was held in Education City. The event used to draw bigger-name fields when it was sandwiched between Abu Dhabi and Dubai in January. Nevertheless, the Qatar Masters has produced big-name winners including Adam Scott (2002, 2008), Paul Lawrie (1999, 2012), Ernie Els (2005), Henrik Stenson (2006), Retief Goosen (2007), Sergio Garcia (2014) and Branden Grace (2015, 2016).
The Course
Doha Golf Club in Qatar’s capital city was established in 1998 and the track was designed by Peter Harradine, who also designed Abu Dhabi Golf Club. The course is a par-72 of 7,466 yards.
The par-72 layout is a conventional pair of nines with the outward nine measuring 238 yards longer than the inward nine. The par-5s are among the easiest of the holes as you might expect with even the 659-yard ninth playing under par generally. However, the drivable par 4-16th is also a birdie and eagle opportunity for most of the field.
Doha GC is an exposed desert links that is susceptible to wind, so you will see some variance in the scoring.
Eight lakes put water in play on six holes.
Recent History/Winners
Played at Doha Golf Club
2022: Ewen Ferguson (-7/281); 150-1
Played at Education City Golf Club
2021: Antoine Rozner (-8/276); 22-1
2020: Jorge Campillo (-13/275); 125-1*
Played at Doha Golf Club
2019: Justin Harding (-13/275); 50-1
2018: Eddie Pepperell (-18/270); 75-1
2017: Jeunghun Wang (-16/272); 45-1**
2016: Branden Grace (-14/274); 8-1
2015: Branden Grace (-19/269); 25-1
2014: Sergio Garcia (-16/272); 8-1***
2013: Chris Wood (-18/270); 90-1
2012: Paul Lawrie (-15/201); 55-1****
2011: Thomas Bjørn (-14/274); 200-1
2010: Robert Karlsson (-15/273); 66-1
Playoff win over David Drysdale – *
Playoff win over Joakim Lagergren, Jaco van Zyl – **
Playoff win over Mikko Ilonen – **
Event reduced to 54 holes – ***
Selections
Adrian Otaegui (35-1, Caesars Sportsbook)
Otaegui finished fifth here last year and 10th in 2018 and was ninth last week in Spain.
He leads the DP World Tour for Driving Accuracy and is second for Scrambling and Strokes Gained: Approach.
Richard Mansell (40-1, DraftKings)
Mansell finished T-6 in Madrid and third last week in Sotogrande on the Spanish swing.
He was part of Team GBI (Great Britain and Ireland) earlier this year in the Hero Cup held at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club, which has the same course designer as this week’s venue at the Doha Golf Club.
Alex Fitzpatrick (50-1, DraftKings)
The younger Fitzpatrick is competing here for the first time.
He has kept solid form throughout the fall and ranks seventh on the DPWT for Strokes Gained: Approach and 12th for Scrambling.
Tom McKibbin (66-1, BetMGM)
McKibbin, 20, is also making his debut in this event but already has had a successful rookie season on the DP World Tour, having won the Porsche European Open in Germany in June.
McKibbin is one of the bigger hitters off the tee on the DP World Tour, ranking 12th for Driving Distance.
Nick Bachem (80-1, BetRivers)
Bachem is another big hitter off the tee. He ranks fouth for Driving Distance and seventh for Strokes Gained: Off The Tee.
Like McKibbin, he also won earlier this year in his rookie DPWT season and the Jonsson Workwear Open in South Africa.
Adri Arnaus (100-1, BetRivers)
After a hot start to 2023 with two top-6 finishes, Arnaus went on to miss eight of his next 13 cuts and never finished higher than T-61. However, he has made his last four cuts this fall, which have included two top-20 finishes.
Arnaus typically plays well in the Middle East, and he has won at a Harradine design before at Al Hamra in 2018 on the Challenge Tour.
