Qatar Masters
Dylan Frittelli earned his first win in nearly five years (last one: 2019 John Deere Classic), taking the inaugural Bahrain Championship by two strokes over Zander Lombard and Jesper Svensson. Our closest tip was Frenchman Fredric Lacroix, who finished T-4 along with Ockie Strydom.
Frittelli was as high as 150-1 pre-tournament to win in Bahrain, and his price this week has been cut by more than half to 70-1 at the Qatar Masters.
Leading the odds board this week is last week’s favorite, Rasmus Højgaard (11-1), who finished eighth last week after a runner-up the week before at Ras Al Khaimah.
Lombard (20-1) was runner-up last week and has a four-week run of form 2-13-16-6.
Yannik Paul (22-1) has two top-10 finishes over the last four weeks.
Tom McKibbin (25-1) finished ninth here last year.
Keita Nakajima (28-1) missed the cut last week in Bahrain after a fourth in Ras Al Khaimah.
Qatar Masters defending champion Sami Välimäki is playing in Phoenix this week, but the previous three Qatar champions Ewen Ferguson (35-1), Antoine Rozner (33-1) and Jorge Campillo (55-1) are in the field.
The Event
The Qatar Masters was established in 1998 and all its tournaments have been housed at the Doha Golf Club except in 2020 and 2021 when the event was held in Education City. The event used to draw bigger-name fields when it was sandwiched between Abu Dhabi and Dubai during January. Nevertheless, the Qatar Masters has produced big-name winners, including Adam Scott (2002, 2008), Paul Lawrie (1999, 2012), Ernie Els (2005), Henrik Stenson (2006), Retief Goosen (2007), Sergio Garcia (2014) and Branden Grace (2015, 2016).
The Course
Doha Golf Club in Qatar’s capital city was established in 1998 and the track was designed by Peter Harradine, who also designed Abu Dhabi Golf Club. The course is a par-72 of 7,466 yards.
The par-72 layout is a conventional pair of nines with the outward nine measuring 238 yards longer than the inward nine. The par-5s play among the easiest of the holes as you might expect with even the 659-yard ninth playing under par generally. However, the drivable par-4 16th is also a birdie and eagle opportunity for most of the field.
Doha GC is an exposed desert links that is susceptible to wind, so you will see some variance in the scoring.
Eight lakes put water in play on six holes.
Recent History/Winners
Played at Doha Golf Club
2023: Sami Välimäki (-18/270); 80-1*
2022: Ewen Ferguson (-7/281); 150-1
Played at Education City Golf Club
2021: Antoine Rozner (-8/276); 22-1
2020: Jorge Campillo (-13/275); 125-1**
Played at Doha Golf Club
2019: Justin Harding (-13/275); 50-1
2018: Eddie Pepperell (-18/270); 75-1
2017: Jeunghun Wang (-16/272); 45-1***
2016: Branden Grace (-14/274); 8-1
2015: Branden Grace (-19/269); 25-1
2014: Sergio Garcia (-16/272); 8-1****
2013: Chris Wood (-18/270); 90-1
2012: Paul Lawrie (-15/201); 55-1*****
2011: Thomas Bjørn (-14/274); 200-1
2010: Robert Karlsson (-15/273); 66-1
Playoff win over Jorge Campillo – *
Playoff win over David Drysdale – **
Playoff win over Joakim Lagergren, Jaco van Zyl – ***
Playoff win over Mikko Ilonen – ****
Event reduced to 54 holes – *****
Selections
Tom McKibbin (25-1, Bet Rivers)
McKibbin ranks fourth for Strokes Gained: Off-The-Tee and second for Driving Accuracy thus far this season.
The young man from Northern Ireland was ninth in Doha on debut last year.
Frederic Lacroix (33-1, Bet Rivers)
Will stick with the Frenchman off consecutive top-4 finishes.
He ranks second for Strokes Gained: Tee-To-Green this season.
Niklas Norgaard Moller (50-1, BetMGM)
The big-hitting Dane was second for both Strokes Gained: Off-The-Tee and Strokes Gained: Approach en route to an eighth last week in Bahrain.
He is always rated near the top driving the golf ball, but if the irons can fire like last week, he can contend here.
Aaron Cockerill (60-1, Caesars Sportsbook)
To start 2024, Cockerill was fourth at the Dubai Desert Classic, where he was third for GIR and fourth for Driving Accuracy.
The Canadian finished sixth last week in Bahrain.
Marcus Helligkilde (60-1, Caesars Sportsbook)
The Dane was 12th in his lone start in Doha two years ago.
He has proved to be a solid putter on the Paspalum greens, ranking second in putting at Ras Al Khaimah last year.
Haotong Li (80-1, FanDuel)
Li finished 14th and seventh on the Dubai Swing to begin 2024.
He is currently rated 10th in Putting and 11th on approach to start the DP World Tour season.
Placement markets and matchups will be available at VSiN.com/picks on Wednesday
