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First ever autumn date for Qatar Masters
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Bachem 66/167.00 ready to nick second Tour title
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Otaegui 28/129.00 can be fourth Spanish winner at Doha
- Read Steve Rawlings' betting preview here
Tournament & Course Notes
• This will be the 24th time that the tournament has been staged at Doha Golf Club. All previous editions were contested during the opening three months of the year;
• This week's Masters is the last 'regular' event of the current season, offering players a final opportunity to secure their DP World Tour cards for 2024;
• If conditions are calm, the sport's longer-drivers will have the opportunity to play all-out attacking golf. However, if the breeze picks up, the course is a totally different animal and must be handled with care, while demanding a deft touch around the greens;
• The course, which is laid out six miles north of Doha city centre, has water in play on six holes;
• In 2021, the venue underwent a largescale renovation. The putting surfaces at nine and 18 were enlarged, while all the greens were sown with Paspallum grass, replacing the previous Bermuda. Many greens were also re-constructed, resulting in a change of slope and elevation;
• And the course architect, Peter Harradine, added: "The grasses were changed on all the greens because the water supply changed, and Paspallum looks good. It's a greener grass."
Stroke Averages
Lowest Eight At Doha (2016-22)
Average .... (Rounds)
69.69: Mike Lorenzo-Vera (16)
69.90: Marcus Kinhult (10)
70.15: Pablo Larrazabal (20)
70.20: Thomas Aiken (10)
70.25: Alexander Bjork (12)
70.25: Nicolas Colsaerts (16)
70.39: Nacho Elvira (18)
70.43: Adrian Otaegui (14)
70.43: Andy Sullivan (14)
Min. No. of Rounds = 10
Only those entered this week are included in table
Latest betting for this week's Qatar Masters
Form in Middle East
Most T-25s since January 1st, 2020
T25s
10: Adri Arnaus
10: Robert MacIntyre
9: Jordan Smith
8: Rasmus Hojgaard
8: Andy Sullivan
7: Alexander Bjork
7: Ross Fisher
7: Scott Jamieson
DP World Tour Events Only
Only those entered this week are included in table
Good Current Form & Strong Course History
Thorbjorn Olesen 20/121.00 and Adrian Otaegui 28/129.00are two pros who fall into this category. Olesen has had two podium finishes at Doha, and tied-for-12th in 2022.
The Dane has posted three T20s from his most recent four starts, including a tie-for-ninth in Spain on Sunday.
Otaegui, who was also tied-ninth at the Andalucia Masters, can boast of a brace of T10s at Doha in his last three visits. This includes tied-fifth last year.
Meanwhile, defending champion Ewen Ferguson 28/129.00has had three top-13 finishes in his most recent four DP World Tour outings.
Good Current Form
Among a host of players with strong-to-middling current form are: Nick Bachem 66/167.00, Ryo Hisatsune 33/134.00, Rasmus Hojgaard20/121.00, Rikuya Hoshino 55/156.00, Richard Mansell 33/134.00, Matthieu Pavon 33/134.00, Marcel Siem 33/134.00 and Jeff Winther 66/167.00.
Madrid winner Pavon has now posted three straight T10s, while Mansell and Siem have each fired back-to-back top-eight finishes.
Last month's French Open winner Hisatsune flies in from Japan having tied-for-sixth on the PGA Tour on Sunday.
Elsewhere, Bachem is a proven winner at this level having triumphed in South Africa back in March.
The 24-year-old German was tied-13th in Sotogrande over the weekend, which was his fifth T25 in eight starts.
Good Course Form
There are three Spaniards with respectable historical form at Doha: Rafael Cabrera-Bello 100/1101.00, Nacho Elvira 125/1126.00 and Pablo Larrazabal 50/151.00.
Four of Larrazabal's nine DP World Tour titles have arrived during the last 19 months, while Cabrera-Bello - currently a lowly 353 in the World Ranking - has had three podium finishes at this course.
Meanwhile, Sweden's Marcus Kinhult 60/161.00has competed here three times, yielding two podiums.
MC* - Missed Additional 54-Hole Cut
Note: List Contains Leading Reserves