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The DP World Tour makes a re-arranged stop in Doha after the event was initially postponed due to covid restrictions, followed by a three week break and then the European section starts in April and lasts until the final week in October. It will be good to have some consistency within the Tour. It is also good to have some consistency this week after a series of events in which there has been no or very little previous course history. Only the Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club has had any extended course history in this year’s events, until this week. This week’s venue, Doha Golf Club, hosted this event from its inception in 1998 to 2019. After two years at Education City Golf Club, also located in Doha, the events returns to its previous home. As a rearranged event following two events in South Africa, and played alongside the WGC’s Dell Technologies Match Play in Texas, the field is weaker than in previous years. This event is normally paired together with the Oman Open, which was also postponed, but has not been rearranged. Originally designed by Peter Harradine, who also designed Abu Dhabi Golf Club, the long-standing, but former host to the Abu Dhabi Championship, there have been some notable renovations since the last event here in 2019. The greens have been changed from Bermuda grass to paspalum dynasty grass and most have been enlarged to their former size. Scrambling should be less of a factor this week than in previous years. The most striking change on the greens has been the merging of the greens to the 9th and 18th hole to form one large double green. Despite the changes to the greens, the rest of the course is largely the same as it was in 2019. The rough is relatively sparse and so this is a course that favours long hitters off the tee with one important caveat: only when the winds are calm. The exposed layout means that a breeze is a constant feature and can be very strong, as is forecast over the weekend. That should mean that ball control should be more important this week. Despite the obvious caveat that there has been no event played here since 2019, here are some angles to identify players who should contend. Angles to consider: 1. In-form players will contend In eight of the last ten years here, the winner had recorded at least one top-10 finish in their last four starts. In 2019 Justin Harding had finished 7th and 11th in two earlier events in the Middle East and finished 4th in the Victorian Open. Eddie Pepperell was an exception to the rule in 2018, but had a previous top-5 finish on this course, while Jeunghun Wang won in 2017, having finished 11th in the Abu Dhabi Championship the previous week and 2nd in the Nedbank Golf Challenge four events prior. The most famous example of this angle is the 2016 winner, Brandan Grace, who had finished 3rd-8th-4th-4th-5th in his previous five starts. And so on. 2. Course form is important in this event This has held true in this event given its long history, but it is harder to find such evidence within the current field given that this is the first event here since 2019. Harding was making his course debut in 2019, but met the first angle above, and that was also the case for Wang in 2017. However, 2017 winner Pepperell had a top-5 finish previously, Grace won back-to-back titles in 2015 and 2016, having finished 6th here in 2013. Sergio Garcia won in 2014, having secured finishes of 9th-5th-2nd in his three previous visits. Chris Wood won in 2013 with top-20 finishes in two of his three previous visits. Paul Lawrie won for the second time here in 2012, while Thomas Bjorn won in 2011 having finished in the top-10 the previous year when Robert Karlsson won, having previously recorded two top-5 finishes here. 3. Playing well in the wind will also be important There is always a breeze at Doha Golf Club so this aligns with the previous angle, but with strong winds forecast for the weekend, this should be more important than usual. With the stronger fields when this event was played alongside the Abu Championship and the Dubai Desert Classic, this angle could have focused on performance on links courses, but these weaker fields have less experience of this courses played in marquee events in the middle of summer. Likewise, it is prudent to exclude the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship when looking at evidence for this angle. Temperatures are expected to be in the high 80s this week which makes it very different to the East coast in Scotland in October. Selections The above angles have been used to create a shortlist from which the following players has been selected. Jazz Janewattananond
Retaining the Thai as a selection after another event in contention, but not earning a place finish. He started the final round of the Steyn City Challenge in the top-10 before finishing 16th. It was a similar story the previous week: after a couple of opening 66s, Janewattananond was in 7th place and very much in the midst of contention before falling back over the weekend. He is making his course debut in terms of angle #2, but in terms of angle #3, he rose six places up the leaderboard when winds averaged 25mph in round 2 of the Abu Dhabi Championship in January and, ignoring the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, his previous round in such winds was round 2 in the 2019 Victorian Open when he rose from 44th to 10th place. Masahiro Kawamura
Kawamura is another player in good form. He was inside the top-10 for each of the first three rounds of the Kenya Open and finished 6th in the last event played in the Middle East, the Ras al Khaimah Classic. With three top-5 finishes on this Tour last year and ranking inside the top-20 for scoring average, he is a class player in this type of field. He finished in the top-20 on his course debut here in 2019, being 10th after the first round in which the winds averaged 20mph on the day. He has played in 19 rounds with average wind speeds of at least 20mph and has improved his leaderboard position by three places on average. That is enough to meet the third angle. Jorge Campillo
Campillo won this event in its first year at Education City Golf Club and he had previously finished 2nd, 13th and 20th in his last three starts at this week’s venue. A couple of top-30 finishes in South Africa is supportive, but more important is the fact that he was 4th after three rounds in the Kenya Open earlier this month. He has needed good ball control skills in the wind to achieve those high finishes at Doha in the past, particularly in 2019, and more recently he jumped 50 places in round 2 of the Abu Dhabi Championship in January when winds averaged over 20mph. Tips 0-3; -6.00pts 1pt e.w. Jazz Janewattananond 60/1 (Boyle Sports 1/5 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8) mc 1pt e.w. Masahiro Kawamura 55/1 (Boyle Sports 1/5 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8) mc 1pt e.w. Jorge Campillo 55/1 (Boyle Sports 1/5 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8) 65th
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