Commercialbank Qatar Masters Preview

The European Tour remains in The Gulf this week for leg three of its "Middle Eastern Swing". Robert Karlsson defends the title in the Commercialbank Qatar Masters presented by Dolphin Energy at the Doha Golf Club.

Robert Karlsson defends
Fergus Bisset
By
published

Lowdown: The European Tour remains in The Gulf this week for leg three of its "Middle Eastern Swing". Robert Karlsson defends the title in the Commercialbank Qatar Masters presented by Dolphin Energy at the Doha Golf Club. A fantastic field has assembled for this tournament including four players in the top-10 on the Official World Golf Ranking. They are Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer, Paul Casey and Steve Stricker. The battle for Number 1 on the ranking will resume this week as Martin Kaymer could overtake Lee Westwood at the top of the pile if results go his way. The German will move to Number 1 if he wins and Westwood finishes outside the top-two, or if he is second with Westwood ending the week outside the top-22. The start sheet features a number of exciting names including John Daly, Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia. Like many of the courses in this part of the world, the layout at Doha GC is a Peter Harradine design. Opened for play in 1994, water comes into play on six holes and natural outcrops of rock are also a feature. This will be the 14th running of the Qatar Masters, first won by Andrew Coltart back in 1998. In last year's event Robert Karlsson signalled his comeback to the European Tour after an eye injury by completing a resounding three shot victory over Alvaro Quiros.

Venue: Doha Golf Club, Qatar Date: Feb 3-6 Course stats: par 72, 7,388 yards Purse: $2,500,000 Defending Champion: Robert Karlsson (-15)

TV Coverage: Thursday 3 - Live on Sky Sports 2 from 8am Friday 4 - Live on Sky Sports 1 from 7am Saturday 5 - Live on Sky Sports 3 from 9.30am Sunday 6 - Live on Sky Sports 3 from 8.30am

Player Watch: Martin Kaymer - The German showed imperious form on his last outing in Abu Dhabi. If he can reproduce it here he will be extremely difficult to beat in this tournament.

Robert Karlsson - The defending champion played some excellent golf last week in Bahrain. It's clearly a course he enjoys so look for him to produce a good performance this week.

Alvaro Quiros - The big hitting Spaniard won here in 2009 and was runner-up last year. He was eighth last week in Bahrain.

Key hole: 16th. At just 306 yards it's eminently driveable for most players in the field. But, it's a small and awkward target with a large rock guarding the front of the green. Expect to see some unpredictable bounces off that outcrop as players go for the carry and fall just short.

Skills required: Staying error-free. This is a tournament that witnesses low scoring and plenty of birdies. The winner will make few mistakes over the four days - staying out of the water is key. Where Next?

PGA Tour - Waste Management Phoenix Open

Fergus Bisset
Fergus Bisset
Contributing Editor

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He has also worked with Golf Monthly to produce a podcast series. Called 18 Majors: The Golf History Show it offers new and in-depth perspectives on some of the most important moments in golf's long history. You can find all the details about it here.

He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly.

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?

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