2024 DP World Tour
Business Financial institution Qatar Masters
Doha Golf Membership, Doha, Qatar
8-11 February

Dylan Frittelli held his nerve in Bahrain to file his first DP World Tour title in six years. It could possibly be a harbinger of issues to return because the tour strikes to the ultimate cease on this 12 months’s extended Center East swing: the Qatar Masters.

I say this as a result of South African golfers have completely thrived on this occasion (Frittelli might be aiming to turn out to be the sixth participant from the Rainbow Nation to win this title).

The Qatar Masters

The Qatar Masters has undergone some vital modifications over the previous few years. Based in 1998, the Qatar Masters was initially one among two occasions staged within the Arabian Peninsula. The occasion began to achieve actual traction earlier than tensions within the Arab world led to it being moved to a later slot within the schedule.

This noticed a lower in prize cash and positively status. The DP World Tour tried to deal with that challenge by making it the ultimate full-field occasion of final 12 months’s roster. It returns to an early season timeslot however it nonetheless lacks the razzmatazz of the 2010’s.

Doha Golf Membership

Designed by Peter Harradine, Doha Golf Membership is the traditional- and beloved- host course of the Qatar Masters. It simply by no means felt proper when organizers moved the occasion to the charmingly named Schooling Metropolis in 2020 and 2021.

That is an archetypal uncovered desert format, measuring in at only a smidge below 7,500 yards. The fairways are pretty slender by desert requirements (although that’s mitigated by minimal tough). The chief safety for this course is wind.

It seems as there might be some gusts this week (although nothing too excessive). I feel it’s all the time advisable to again gamers with stable Center East type in these occasions. Additionally, hyperlinks specialists are likely to thrive on these uncovered layouts and this 12 months ought to be no totally different.

The pretty new Paspalum placing surfaces are reasonably slick and require some actual finesse. That’s why I’d avoid gamers famend for placing woes.

The Contenders

There’s really a reasonably robust South African contingent ready to assert the title this week. Thriston Lawrence completed runner-up (alongside Rory) on the inaugural Dubai Invitational. He has that successful contact and will very nicely pose a menace this week.

Zander Lombard has been distinctive all through the desert swing, ending T6 on the Dubai Invitational and T2 final week. Dane Rasmus Hojgaard has picked up back-to-back top-ten finishes and he makes a logical favorite this week.

Elsewhere, the likes of Yannik Paul and Keita Nakajima have flirted with rivalry in current weeks. I’m not going to lie, that is hardly blockbuster stuff and the DP World Tour goes to want to do one thing earlier than their tour fades into obsolescence.

Previous Winners

2023: Sami Valimaki
2022: Ewen Ferguson (-7)
2021: Antoine Rozner (-8) *Schooling Metropolis
2020: Jorge Campillo (-13) *playoff- Schooling Metropolis
2019: Justin Harding (-13)

To Win Match:

Rasmus Hojgaard 9/1 | Zander Lombard 18/1 | Yannik Paul 22/1 | Thriston Lawrence 22/1 | Tom McKibben 22/1

Worth Bets

Frederick Lacroix- To Win 30/1 | To Place 11/2

This could possibly be the week for rising Frenchman Frederick Lacroix to assert a maiden DP World Tour title. Take a look at his type figures in his final 9 occasions on the Problem Tour and DP World Tour: 15-8-6-13-3-17-5-3-4. He hits the ball lengthy and straight (making him the perfect candidate for Doha Golf Membership). He completed third on the Ras al Khaimah Championship earlier than a fourth place end in Bahrain final week. The whole lot is trending in the correct route for him.

Pablo Larrazabal- To Win 40/1 | To Place 8/1

I’m as soon as once more going to again Larrazabal at a mid-level worth. Certain, he did end down the sphere in Bahrain. However he loved a disastrous begin final week and I’m all the time prepared to ignore type in relation to the 40-year-old Spaniard. A nine-time winner on tour, Larrazabal has confirmed to be an actual desert specialist over time. He held off Mickelson and McIlroy to win the 2014 Abu Dhabi Championship. He additionally lately completed fourth on the Rolex Collection occasion Dubai. He has made the lower in every of his final seven visits right here, ending 4th in 2018 and fifth in 2019. This can be a weak area and I feel he could possibly be a real darkish horse this week.

The Man to Beat- Rasmus Hojgaard- To Win 11/1 | To Place 5/2

Sure, I’m backing the favorite this week. However that is a kind of weeks the place you may nonetheless eke out slightly worth in doing so. And he has been distinctive in his final 5 Center East occasions, choosing up outcomes of T11-T11-T11-2-T8. He has the ability to place himself in nice positions off the tee and the precision to hit high-quality method pictures in these tough Paspalum greens. I don’t assume it’s too lengthy till Rasmus joins twin brother Nicolai within the higher echelons of European golf.