Bahrain Championship: Rozner and Couvra chanced at 43/1

• Look to Mauritius for clues

• Driving distance and a strong tee-to-green game more important than putting

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Tournament History

Following the Dubai invitational and the Dubai Desert Classic, the DP World skips from the UAE to the Kingdom of Bahrain for the third edition of the Bahrain Championship.

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Venue

Championship Course, Royal GC, Kingdom of Bahrain, Bahrain.

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Course Details

Par 72, 7302 yards
Scoring average in 2025 - 71.35 

In addition to the first two editions of this event, the Colin Montgomerie designed Championship Course at the Royal Bahrain Golf Club was also used on the DP World Tour back in 2011.

Just a few weeks before the Arab Spring-inspired Bahraini Uprising, the course was used for the inaugural edition of the now defunct Volvo Golf Champions event, a tournament won by Paul Casey in 20-under-par, a year after the course designer had controversially left him out the European Ryder Cup team.

17 years ago @montgomeriefdn came to Bahrain to design The Royal Golf Club 🇧🇭

2007 2024#BahrainGolfChamps pic.twitter.com/kDCkIjD1Xl

-- DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) February 3, 2024

According to Monty's design website, the course has been "designed and constructed to provide a links style golf experience in the desert, with fast running fairways and open approaches into huge, firm greens which are dramatically contoured."

The course wasn't especially well received 15 years ago, with the 'funky' greens getting quite a bit of stick with Ian Poulter being a particularly vocal critic.

"Played great today 35 putts, missed one green, simply the WORST greens I have ever seen & I'm not joking they are embarrassing.

Apparently, the architect wanted to make a statement with the greens, he did that alright they are &%$#"

There have been no such complaints in the last two years ago, so I assume the greens were softened in-between the two events, but it's interesting to see that a strong week with the putter hasn't been key to victory in either of the last two editions (see below).

The bunkers were altered prior to the off two years ago but it's the rocky wasteland wide of the fairways that needs to be avoided.

The Championship Course also staged a couple of MENA Tour events in 2019 and 2020, won by Robin Roussel and David Hague.

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Weather Forecast 

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TV Coverage

Live on Sky Sports all four days, starting at 8:30 on Thursday.

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First Two Winners with Pre-event Exchange Prices

2024 - Dylan Frittelli -13 350.0349/1
2025 - Laurie Canter -14 23.022/1 (playoff) 

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What Will it Take to Win the Bahrain Championship?

We've only had three DP World Tour events staged here and the first two were 13 years apart so it's debatable how much credence we can give the stats but for what it's worth, length off the tee has been beneficial on all three occasions.

Back in 2011, the top five in the Driving Distance stats, and six of the top ten, all finished inside the top 12 and that the winner, Paul Casey, and Peter Hanson, who finished tied for second, ranked first and second on the par fives. And it was a similar story two years ago...

The winner, Dylan Frittelli, and Jesper Svensson, who finished tied second, ranked third and fourth for DD and only Flippo Celli, who finished tied for 23^rd, played the long holes better than Frittelli.

Last year's winner, Laurie Canter, only ranked 19^th for Driving Distance but two of the four men to finish a shot shy of the three-man playoff, Spaniards Ivan Cantero and David Puig, ranked second and fifth for DD.

Although the three playoff protagonists only ranked 13^th, eighth and 28^th for Greens In Regulation last year, they ranked second, 17^th and first for Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and the winner in 2024, Frittelli, also ranked first for Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green so that looks a key stat.

Strokes Gained statistics didn't exist back in 2011 but for the record, Miguel -Angel Jimenz, who finished third, ranked third for GIR, and Stephen Gallacher, who finished fourth, topped the GIR rankings.

The last two winners have ranked first and seventh for Scrambling but neither putted especially well. Canter ranked 50^th for Putting Average and 51^st for Strokes Gained Putting and Frittelli ranked only 39^th and 31^st.

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Is There an Angle In?

The Championship Course is exposed and it's no surprise to see fine wind exponents and links specialists enjoying the test.

Casey, who finished third in the Open Championship in 2010, is a great links player and Frittelli finished fifth in the Open in 2021 at Royal St. Georges.

Form at any of the other tournaments played in the desert is an obvious place to start but the Ras Al Khaimah Championship, which has dropped off the schedule this year, is arguably the best desert event to look back on for clues.

Like this week's track, the Ras Al Khaimah venue, Al Hamra, is an exposed desert layout that favours big hitters and fine links exponents.

Alejandro Del Rey, who won the Ras Al Khaimah Championship by a comfortable four strokes last year, sat fourth here in 2024 after rounds one and two, before a poor weekend saw him slip to 56^th, and one of last year's beaten playoff protagonists here, Daniel Brown, was sitting second at halfway in Ras Al Khaimah 12 months ago.

Any edition of the Mauritius Open looks worthy of consideration too. Whichever venue has been used it will be a wind-exposed links like track like this one and form there holds up well here.

Casey has never played there but Frittelli won the 2017 edition at the Heritage Course, and he finished fifth a year later when defending at Anahita. Last year's winner, Canter, finished runner-up to Louis Oosthuizen at the Mauritius Open in 2023. 

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Winner's Position and Exchange Price Pre-Round Four

2024 - Dylan Frittelli -led by two 2.3611/8
2025 - Laurie Canter - tied 6^th, trailing by two 7.87/1

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In-Play Tactics

With the course drying out as the week wears on, it's very hard to make up ground in the desert - even in windy conditions - so concentrate on the early pacesetters.

Canter was tied for 10^th and after round one and tied 11^th at halfway and he was still two back on a congested leaderboard with 18 to play but the first two course winners were in the van throughout.

Frittelli sat tied for eighth, trailing by three strokes, after round one and he was in front from halfway, and it was a similar story 15 years ago.

Casey sat tied for sixth and just three off the lead after round one, tied fourth and one off the lead at halfway, and he was tied for the lead with the runner-up, Peter Hanson, after 54-holes.

The front four on the final leaderboard in 2011 were tied for the lead or trailing by just one at halfway and the two winners on the MENA Tour won wire-to-wire.

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Rozner and Couvra chanced at 43/1

The in-form South African, Jayden Schaper, who won the aforementioned Mauritius Open just before Christmas, heads the market but with rounds of 78 and 75 in 2024 and 75 and 71 last year, he's missed the cut in both his previous visits.

The 21-year-old Spanish phenom, Angel Ayora, is going to win sooner or later and given his prestigious length off the tee and his excellent Scrambling numbers, this looks like a great opportunity for him to get off the mark but the fact that he missed the cut here last year on debut is off-putting.

Following a top 10 finish in the Dubai Invitational, the 32-year-old Frenchman, Antoine Rozner, missed the cut last week after he left himself too much to do with a 75 on Thursday but I was happy to chance him modestly here at 44.043/1.

With victories in the Golf in Dubai Championship in 2020, the Qatar Masters in 2021 and the Mauritius Open in 2022, Rozner has the perfect profile for this event, and he proved his liking for the layout with a 12^th place finish in his only course appearance two years ago.

Last year's Turkish Airlines Open winner, Martin Couvra, is my only other pick before the off.

The 23-year-old Frenchman finished fourth last year and he caught the eye last week with a 10^th place finish in the Dubai Desert Classic, where he ranked 11^th for Driving Accuracy, fifth for Greens In Regulation and fourth for Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green.

Although he ranked as high as 26^th for Putting Average last week, his putting figures are usually underwhelming but, as highlighted above, the last two winners didn't have a brilliant week with the flatstick so that's not a huge concern.

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