Preview: Commercialbank Qatar Masters Presented by Dolphin Energy

The European Tour remains in the Middle East for the second of three straight tournaments to be contested in The Gulf. This week the strongest field ever assembled in a regular European Tour event tees it up in Qatar.

Adam Scott
Fergus Bisset
By
published

Lowdown: An impressive field will line up at Doha Golf Club this week for the 12th Qatar Masters. Defending champion Adam Scott will be joined by 17 other players in the top-50 of the Official World Golf Ranking, making this the strongest field ever assembled for a regular European Tour event. Nine members of the 2008 European Ryder Cup team are on the start-list and they’ll come up against one of the men central to their defeat at Valhalla last September. Boo Weekley will make his first appearance on the European Tour after taking up Affiliate Membership. The colourful American who’s won twice on the PGA Tour will be sure to attract the crowds as will former champions Ernie Els and Retief Goosen. Adam Scott will be looking to maintain his 100% record in Qatar. He’s won on both his previous visits to Doha – in 2002 then again last season.

Venue: Doha GC, Qatar Date: January 22-25 Course stats: par 72, 7,388 yards Purse: €1,927,000 Winner: €314,400 Defending champion: Adam Scott (-20)

TV coverage: Thursday 22 – Live on Sky Sports 1 from 8am Friday 23 – Live on Sky Sports 2 from 8am Saturday 24 – Live on Sky Sports 2 from 9.30am Sunday 25 – Live on Sky Sports 2 from 9.30am

player watch: Sergio Garcia – The World Number Two finished strongly in Abu Dhabi last week and will be keen to secure a victory and further close the gap on Tiger Woods at the top of the World Ranking. Adam Scott – The defending champion finished in a tie for second in Hawaii last week. He has great memories of this course, in his last competitive round here he fired a course record 61. Rory McIlroy – The young Northern Irishman has seldom been off the first page of the leaderboard in recent tournaments. It’s only a matter of time before he secures his maiden European Tour victory.

Key hole: 16th. At just 306 yards it’s eminently driveable for many players in the field. But, it’s a small and awkward target and anything  off-line, particularly to the right, could end up in the desrt. Skills required: Beating the best. With such a strong field assembled, whoever comes out on top will have defeated an impressive array of world-class players.

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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