One of the more established tournaments on the DP World Tour takes place this week when the International Swing moves from Bahrain to Qatar for the Qatar Masters, the last leg in the desert in the current phase in the season.
Rikuya Hoshino was a surprise winner of this tournament a year ago but he isn’t here to attempt to make a defence of the title so we are guaranteed a different winner. That will come from a competitive rather than spectacular field.
Recent Winners
2024 – Rikuya Hoshino
2023 – Sami Valimaki
2022 – Ewen Ferguson
2021 – Antoine Rozner
2020 – Jorge Campillo
2019 – Justin Harding
2018 – Eddie Pepperell
2017 – Jeunghun Wang
2016 – Branden Grace
2015 – Branden Grace
The Course
We are back at the wonderful Doha Golf Club once again this week. The 7,400 yard par 72 track has been a feature of this tournament throughout its history. It sounds long on paper but with the dry air we know the ball flies further so it isn’t a long track by any means. The way it has been created, with many doglegs and small greens means there isn’t a lot of joy in overcoming it with power. That gives it plenty of defence and the wind acts as further defence against pure ball strikers.
Given the firmness of the tracks out in this part of the world the course needs to be played from the fairways for the best control into the greens. A good putter is always needed in this part of the world, as is comfort in the wind because this is an exposed track like we saw in the desert events earlier in the year so don’t have those who don’t have a good record in the wind high up on your shortlist. Good iron players who flight the ball low and putt well are the ones to be on here.
The Field
In terms of the world rankings, this is one of the weakest fields of the season so far with just the two players from within the top 100 teeing it up here. That isn’t a surprise with a couple of tasty events in America on the horizon but it does mean that the winner of the Bahrain Championship last week, Laurie Canter, is the standout in the field as he looks to win in successive weeks. The only other member of the top 100 who has a tee time here is Jordan Smith.
There are plenty of players who have made promising starts to the season who have a tee time this week. As well as Canter, Daniel Hillier and John Parry are in the current top five of the Race to Dubai standings while Johannes Veerman, Elvis Smylie, Alejandro del Rey, Ryggs Johnston and Marcus Armitage are all in the top 10. Ivan Cantero, Matthew Jordan, David Micheluzzi, Daniel Brown, Lablo Larrazabal and Angel Ayora complete the top 20 in those standings who are here.
Market Leaders
Given that he is the highest ranked player in the field this week and comes in here off the back of winning in Bahrain, it is no surprise that Laurie Canter is a well backed 12/1 favourite to win the tournament. It is never easy backing up a win the next week though, especially in this part of the world where you get through a lot of energy in the heat, but if he has recovered from last week by the time he tees off on Thursday then he could easily be the one to beat once again.
Jordan Smith is the only other player in the top 100 in the world rankings who is teeing it up this week and as such he is a 20/1 second favourite to come out on top this week. Smith hasn’t really got going in 2025 just yet but he was fifth the last time he teed it up in this tournament and he could certainly fit the ball striker profile around here. You just have to putt excellently in this part of the world and that is where the doubt comes. He is a smidgeon short to me.
Jorge Campillo comes next in the betting along with Johannes Veerman. The former is a past winner around here who has been second and then fifth here in the last two years so he is a huge tick in the course form box while the latter won the Nedbank Golf Challenge at the back end of 2024 and will want to build on that here where he has a couple of top 20 finishes in four starts. Both men can be taken at 28/1 on the best prices.
Another former champion is the only other player who is shorter than 40/1 in the betting market this week and that is the French ace Antoine Rozner, the winner here in 2021. Rozner finished 2024 in fine form but he hasn’t played on the DP World Tour since the Team Cup but he has played in a couple of tournaments on the PGA Tour so he has been active. He didn’t go too well there but he was sixth here a year ago and will be popular at 33/1.
Main Bets
Antoine Rozner feels like a natural pick this week. He has won the tournament in the past and we know that he is an exceptional iron player when he is on it. In an ideal world he wouldn’t have been playing on the PGA Tour but he didn’t play last week so he isn’t globetrotting in the space of a few days which is a positive. Rozner was sixth here a year ago and finished his season at this level last term in excellent form in this part of the world. In a field lacking real quality and depth this week, the Frenchman looks a standout bet.
The other main bet for me this week is Daniel Hillier. The Australian player has started the season really well, largely courtesy of coming second in the Dubai Desert Classic but if he can go well in a field as stacked as that one then he can be more than competitive in a similar part of the world here. Hillier led the field here in 2023 at the halfway point but faltered over the weekend. He is a little more established at this level now though so in a similar position I would expect him to deal with the scrutiny of the weekend much better. Hillier sits eighth on the strokes gained on approach category on the DP World Tour this season and looks a big price to me.
Outsiders
I thought Daniel Brown was going to land a punt at a monster price for me when he made the playoff in the Bahrain Championship last week but he pretty much put paid to that when he found the fairway bunker off the tee on the opening playoff hole. That whole week further confirmed to me that he can excel on tracks which are exposed to the elements and fresh off the back of that he gets a crack on another here. We will need to take it in good faith that he is over the disappointment of last week but even though he is only around half the price, in a much weaker field, if he is over it he should challenge again here.
Callum Tarren led the field after 54 holes in Bahrain last week but then it all went wrong for him over the last 18 holes but coming from a sustained spell on the PGA Tour, you would imagine he would be above this level, especially a weakened event level on the DP World Tour so I’ll pay to see if he can get into position again and this time get the job done. Tarren was good with the irons last week and if a spin in similar conditions can get the putter warm then there is plenty of reason to think that on another exposed layout he can contend again.
Tips
Back A.Rozner to win Qatar Masters (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 34.00 with Unibet (1/5 1-6)
Back D.Hillier to win Qatar Masters (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 51.00 with Betfair (1/5 1-7)
Back D.Brown to win Qatar Masters (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 71.00 with Coral (1/5 1-7)
Back C.Tarren to win Qatar Masters (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 101.00 with Spreadex (1/5 1-6)
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