Two-time Major winner Martin Kaymer and defending champion Justin Harding will lead a strong field for the 2020 edition of Commercial Bank Qatar Masters that will tee off today at the Education City Golf Club.
The $1.75mn event has moved across the Qatari capital from Doha Golf Club for the first time in its 23-year history to Education City Golf Club — a landmark project for Qatar that offers a revolutionary and holistic approach to growing the game.
Designed by two-time Masters Champion Jose Maria Olazabal, the venue comprises 33 holes split into three courses — 18 holes, nine holes and six holes. The Championship Course, which plays 7,307 yards, is set up to be a terrific test for the players with sizeable bunkers and green-side water hazards on more than half the holes.
Kaymer last played the event in 2014 is hoping to turn his recent consistency into a long-awaited win at the new venue of the event where the conditions are expected to be challenging.
“I’ve been playing well,” Kaymer said. “I’m working a lot on the short game, trying to get that putter in the right momentum.”
The German is a former European No. 1 with 11 European Tour wins, including two Major Championships. But the last of those victories came nearly six years ago at the 2014 US Open.
He recently said that he felt he had maybe lacked focus for the last couple of years. However, after changing his trajectory to gain some length off the tee and working hard on his short game, he has started his 2020 campaign with four consecutive top 20s.
“I’m very happy with the way I hit fairways, the way I hit greens, I’m playing very consistently and those top-16 finishes, it would be nice to make a couple more putts to actually have a chance to win,” the 35-year-old said.
Last year’s winner Harding hopes that memories of his victory in Doha last year can fuel his challenge for more success at the Qatar Masters.
The South African lifted his maiden European Tour title in dramatic fashion at last year’s event after some last day heroics saw him hold off a big chasing pack at Doha Golf Club. He fired five birdies on the back nine — including at the 15th, 17th and 18th — to earn a two-shot victory from a group of nine players who tied for second.
To defend a title in Doha is a tough task as South African Branden Grace is the only player to win back-to-back (2015, 2016) Qatar Masters titles in its 23-year-old history.
And according to Harding, wind will be a big factor again this week.
“It’s a good golf course, I’ve played nine holes and I think the wind’s going to blow,” said Harding. “It’s going to make it challenging for scoring.”
Harding is also joined in the field by 2018 winner Eddie Pepperell, last week’s Oman Open winner Sami Valimaki and Kaymer’s 2012 Ryder Cup teammate Nicolas Colsaerts.
Colsaerts ended his seven-year winless run in the autumn at the Open de France and after a top-20 in Oman last week, he too is feeling confident in the desert.
“Everything kind of falls into place. I think I’ve been playing well since my first round of the year. If you look at the results you always want to get a bit more out of your weeks, I probably wasn’t really efficient enough on the greens,” Colsaerts said.
“I thought I had a good chance last week, I had a putt on 13 on Sunday that would have got me two shots off the lead and I was feeling pretty good. I went for the win for a long time and thought I had a pretty good sniff so I’m pretty happy about everything.”
The 144-player field at the popular European Tour tournament also includes former Open and two-time Qatar champion Paul Lawrie along with other former champions Jeunghun Wang of South Korea, Spain’s Alvaro Quiros, and South Africa’s Darren Fichardt, besides prominent young stars like Denmark’s Rasmus Hojgaard and Australia’s Min Woo Lee.
At 18 years and 271 days old, Hojgaard is the third youngest winner in European Tour history after a dramatic play-off triumph last December at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open in just his fifth European Tour start.
Lee had a disappointing Oman Open last week – missing the cut with rounds of 77 and 76 – but will be looking to match or improve upon his share-of-20th at this event last year. The 21-year-old will still be high on confidence after his Vic Open title win on February 7 and should be right in the mix if he plays anywhere near his best.
Justin Harding returns to defend his title.
