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The final event in the Middle East until the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in November. This will be the third year that it has been paired with the Oman Open in the second of the two Middle East sequences of events, having previously been a regular on the European alongside the Dubai Desert Classic and Abu Dhabi Championship since 1998. That should mean that there is plenty of course history to view, but not this year. The event has moved across Doha to the newly-opened course at Education City Golf Club. The Jose Maria Olazabal-designed course looks as though there has been a lot of money spent on it. From the sculptured fairways to large bunkers, from the greenside water hazards to the large contoured greens, this looks to be a modern venue typical of the region. With a new course being used, there is plenty of guesswork involved this week, but there is also plenty of reason to expect this week to be little different from previous Qatar Masters. The event has only moved eleven miles from Doha Golf Club to an event that is more inland than the previous host, the course appears to have plenty of similarities with the previous host and the defining feature of these open desert courses is the wind. As the defending champion, Justin Harding, said “It’s a good golf course, I've played nine holes and I think the wind's going to blow. It’s going to make it challenging for scoring”. With the obvious caveat about the lack of previous events here, here are a couple of angles to identify players who should contend. Angles to consider: 1. Playing the previous week is more relevant than usual This is a very strong angle with all 22 previous winners of this event having played the week prior to winning here. In fact, between 2014 and 2018, every single player who finished in the top-5 in the Qatar Masters had played the week beforehand, either the Abu Dhabi Championship or the Oman Open. Last year, nine of the players in the top-10 played the previous week in Oman. Familiarity with desert golf is important in this event. 2. Strong wind and links play Given that this is a flat, wind-swept course, the link to links-type courses is not surprising. Despite the relatively weak fields, there have been three winners of this event who have also won the Open Championship – Paul Lawrie (double-winner here), Ernie Els and Henrik Stenson. Add in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, and winners of both these events include Branden Grace (double-winner here), Robert Karlsson and Paul Lawrie (again). The course is not a links course, but it is important to be able to play in a stiff breeze that typically blows across the holes rather than long the hole. That makes the link to links-type events relevant. Selections The above angles have been used to create a shortlist from which the following players have been selected. Thomas Detry Detry has a good record in this event, having finished 29th, 39th and 11th in the last three years. He was only two shots off the lead at the start of the final round last year so that is evidence that he can play well on the desert courses of this region. This was confirmed when he finished 6th in the Saudi International last month against a much stronger field. He was a little off the pace last week, but he does have a good record on links courses – he finished in the top-25 in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship – and is a good wind player as well. Robert Macintyre As a Scottish player, Macintyre should be good in wind and on links courses and he certainly evidenced this when finishing 6th at Royal Portrush last year and then 26th in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. In terms of playing well in the wind, he evidenced this in the final round of the Dubai Desert Classic this year when finishing 8th, but also in events such as the Made in Denmark and European Open last year where wind was a particular factor. He didn’t play last week, which is a concern for a strong angle, but he had been playing in the Mexico Championship the week before and is the second-highest ranked player in this field. That is an impressive achievement for someone so young. Adri Arnaus At 25 years old, Arnaus completes a trio of young players with great potential. He held the lead after round 1 in windy conditions last year and similarly showed good form in these conditions in last year’s Kenya Open and the Dubai Desert Classic this year, when finishing 3rd. He finished in the top-15 at Lahinch Golf Club in the Irish Open last year to confirm his credentials in wind and/or links golf and it will be a matter of time before he wins on this Tour. Tips 0-3; -6.00pts 1pt e.w. Thomas Detry 28/1 (Coral, Betway 1/5 1-2-3-4-5-6-7) 17th 1pt e.w. Robert Macintyre 18/1 (Boyle Sports 1/5 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8) 61st 1pt e.w. Adri Arnaus 33/1 (Boyle Sports 1/5 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8) mc
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