The DP World Tour concludes a five-event stretch in the Middle East this week as the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters returns to its traditional date in the early part of the year. Here are your five things to know.
Final stop of stretch in the Middle East
The 2024 Race to Dubai continues this week with its 11th event of the campaign as Qatar plays host to the final event of a five-week run in the desert.
The Commercial Bank Qatar Masters serves as the fifth stop on the International Swing, the second of five Global Swings that build up to the ‘Back 9’ from late August and subsequently two DP World Tour Play-Offs, which will be held back in the Middle East in November.
The tournament, won towards the end of last season by Sami Välimäki as he went on to earn a PGA TOUR card, has a prize fund of $2.5 million, with 500 Race to Dubai ranking points on offer for the winner.
Now back to its accustomed slot in the early weeks of the year, the event – an ever-present on the calendar since its inception in 1998 – promises to bring the curtain down on a dramatic stretch in this part of the world.
With a one-week break in the schedule to follow before we head to Africa, who will join Tommy Fleetwood, Rory McIlroy, Thorbjørn Olesen and Dylan Frittelli as a winner on the DP World Tour this year?
Past champions in the field
While Finland’s Välimäki is not back to defend his title this week, there are a host of past champions in action this week at Doha Golf Club.
In total there are no fewer than eight players who have held aloft the Mother of Pearl Trophy teeing it up.
2023 Hero Cup players Ewen Ferguson and Antoine Rozner, who won the tournament across back-to-back years in 2022 and 2021 respectively, are joined by Spaniard Jorge Campillo, who has also won the event since the turn of the decade.
Before them, Eddie Pepperell and Wang Jeunghun won in 2018 and 2017 respectively, while Ryder Cup player Chris Wood was a winner in 2013 and Alvaro Quiros celebrated success in 2009.
South African Darren Fichardt, back on the DP World Tour after progressing from the Final Stage of Qualifying School last year, is the oldest past champion having won in 2003.
History
Since it was founded in 1988, the Qatar Masters has been held at Doha Golf Club on all but two occasions.
While the Peter Harradine-designed layout underwent major renovation, Education City Golf Club across the Qatari capital took over hosting duties in 2020 and 2021.
The championship course at Doha Golf Club, part of the first wave of grass golf courses to have been built in the Middle East, measures in at 7,475 yards and features a double green on the par five ninth and 18th holes.
Andrew Coltart and Tony Johnstone, who are both part of the commentary team for European Tour Productions' World Feed coverage this week, won this event in 1998 and 2001 respectively.
Inside the field
The field for the fifth event of the International Swing is headlined by the presence of four players from the top ten on the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex.
The in-form South African Zander Lombard is joined by compatriot and last week’s winner Frittelli, Rikuya Hoshino and Rasmus Højgaard who have both enjoyed runner-up finishes so far this season.
Emirati golfer Joshua Grenville-Wood, who finished in a tie for sixth in his one and only start on the DP World Tour at last year’s edition in October, is looking to showcase his talent again as an invite having registered a recent top 10 in Ras Al Khaimah.
All but one of the 20 Challenge Tour graduates are in action while a host of the graduates from the final stage of Qualifying School are also teeing it up, including DP World Tour winners Tom Lewis and Renato Paratore.
Qualifying School graduate James Nicholas, a former Yale football player, is set for his DP World Tour debut.
Pathways
Access to the DP World Tour through formal pathways with other international Tours is once again apparent this week.
These strategic partnerships enhance playing opportunities for international players to compete at the highest levels of men’s professional golf with an exemption in category 17 on the DP World Tour.
Former amateur World Number One Keita Nakajima tees it up for the third week in a row on the DP World Tour having finished as the top ranked player on the Japan Golf Tour last season.
The Japanese is joined by 2022 ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit winner David Micheluzzi, last season’s Sunshine Tour runner-up Jaco Prinsloo, China Tour’s leading player Guxin Chen and Professional Golf Tour of India winner Om Prakash Chouhan.
