Commercial Bank Qatar Masters Each-Way Tips: Stick with 90/1 Armitage

• Stick with Englishman Marcus Armitage

• Jorge Campillo has great course form

• Frenchman Ugo Coussaud played well here 12 months ago

There was once a time when the DP World Tour's visit to Doha GC for the Qatar Masters demanded a pre-event look at the linksland record of the contenders - or the addition of the winner's name to the notebook ahead of the most important linksland championship of them all, the Open.

The likes of Ernie Els, Henrik Stenson, Adam Scott, Thomas Bjorn, Chris Wood, Branden Grace, Sergio Garcia and Eddie Pepperell, all of them Claret Jug winners or nearly-men, have won in Doha. So, too, did the unheralded Dutchman Rolf Muntz who won Amateur Championship at Open-hosting Muirfield.

Perhaps the most remarkable Doha link of them all came in 1999 when Paul Lawrie opened up a five-shot 54-hole lead over Jean Van de Velde.

The Frenchman was bullish on Saturday night, saying, "I've seen bigger leads lost."

And Lawrie himself reported knowing, when his lead advanced to seven in the final round, that he "had to do something silly" not to win yet he also admitted remembering, "I took 10 in a Winter Alliance five weeks ago so it can happen."

On this occasion, Lawrie negotiated the 72nd hole comfortably to complete the win but those three quotes are eyebrow-raising when you recall what happened when the roles of Lawrie and Van de Velde were reversed five months later as the Frenchman wilted on Carnoustie's final hole and the Scotsman landed the Qatar-Open double.

At first glance, a desert track in the Middle East and the linksland of Britain and Ireland don't have a lot in common but when I asked Lawrie about the connection a few years ago he said: "It does play like a links course in that you have to be in control of your ball flight and sometimes run shots into greens instead of flying it all the way."

The only trouble with all of this is that recently it's not been quite such a straightforward connection. The last four winners of this event at the course are Justin Harding, Ewen Ferguson, Sami Valimaki and Rikuya Hoshino and they have two top 10s on linksland between them (both the Finn's doing).

Maybe it's not worth scrapping as an idea, however, because when the Asian Tour's International Series visited the course in December, Dunhill Links play-off loser Peter Uihlein lifted the trophy while 2010 Open champion Louis Oosthuizen was third.

Main Bet: Marcus Armitage each-way @ 90/1

When the price of Englishman Marcus Armitage stayed high after his runner-up finish two weeks ago in the UAE the column picked him in Bahrain and we're keeping the faith this week.

There was always a risk that he'd be a little fatigued last week, but it was a risk worth taking at the price. Equally, with the price still high there is a chance that after being either tired or having high expectations, he is now able to kick on after a reset.

He was clearly playing well in Ras Al Khaimah, finishing three clear of all but one man in the field and he has finished fifth at Doha, in 2022.

He's also played some very nice links golf in the last 18 months.

He was runner-up in the 2023 Dunhill Links Championship, fourth at St Francis Links in South Africa and T17 in the Irish Open at Royal County Down.

(By the way, hopefully a few took note of last week's added reasoning for backing Armitage which was that golfers who play Green Eagle well also seem to like The Royal in Bahrain. Armitage didn't prove it but Laurie Canter did: his two wins are now Green Eagle and The Royal.)

Next Best: Jorge Campillo each-way @ 25/1

A few months ago the column tipped Spain's Jorge Campillo to win the Andalucia Masters and he should have won in regulation, he had many chances to do so in a nine-hole play-off, but he was ultimately beaten to the trophy by Julien Guerrier.

A painful experience in any case, but I spent extra holes watching the action from just yards away! Like vinegar on a paper cut.

That day the Spaniards were out in force to support their compatriot and a similar thing happened last week when Campillo was among those offering encouragement to Pablo Larrazabal.

Paradoxically, I wonder if the two near-misses will help Campillo this week as he returns to a course he has enjoyed in the past.

Five of his last six visits have reaped top 20s. The highlights of those were a halfway lead in 2017, second place in 2019, play-off defeat (again!) in 2023, and fifth last year.

He carded a neat second round 66 on his way to T13 last week in Bahrain and, although I'm keen on Haotong Li, the Spaniard gets the nod.

Final Bet: Ugo Coussaud each-way @ 55/1

Can Frenchman Ugo Coussaud go one better than Jean Van de Velde managed in 1999?

It's more likely to happen here than in the Open, of course, but he was second at Doha last year when the joint 54-hole leader.

It wasn't the first time he had taken to a Peter Harradine design either. He was T17 at Abu Dhabi in 2023 and he's since been T16 at Al Hamra (two weeks ago).

He also showed he likes a Middle East course with British/Irish seaside links when seventh at Yas Links in November.

Now read Steve Rawlings on the Qatar Masters.

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