Qatar Masters

So, it's time for the second leg of the desert swing, Qatar Masters at Doha GC.

A decent field, with Garcia and Stenson as bookie favorites. Wood is defending champion but has kind of dissappeared with only a handful of top 10's since.

Dufner is returning after a decent result last year. Maybe the sand dunes remind him of his missus behind?

Quiros is a past champ and always do well here. Not to sure where is game is, but could be an e/w bet at a decent price.

Crowd favorite MAJ is playing and is in decent form. I would keep an eye on him. So is past champ, and as it looks, coming RC player Thomas Bjorn. Won at Nedbank and two top 10's since. He should be in the mix as well. And will we see a comeback from the two Swedes Hanson and Karlsson?

A lot of interesting golfers to watch and hopefully we'll have a great tournament.

Its a bit like the ugly third child in comparison to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, in the desert Swing. Though MAJ in those big shades last week was the coolest site in golf. He looked like he should have been appearing in Chips ( what a great show when i was about 6)

 pedro,

Could add that this gets underway on Wednesday.

Others seeking a return to form include Donald, Els and Kaymer, not to mention Roly Poly Lowry.

I still fancy Lowry to have a good year and probably get a captains pick for the Ryder cup, if not qualify outright.

incontinentia wrote:I still fancy Lowry to have a good year and probably get a captains pick for the Ryder cup, if not qualify outright.

You think he'll live that long Inco?

No chance of Lowry getting a Captain's Pick unless he goes on an extraordinary Molinari-type run, not a cat in hell's chance. Sorry inco!

He and McGinley are good buddies kwini

To be fair to Big Shane, if he wasnt such a big lad, then no one would really care or talk about him.

beninho wrote:To be fair to Big Shane, if he wasnt such a big lad, then no one would really care or talk about him.

Exactly, his golf doesn't exactly do the talking.

Unlike your hero Poulter. Mr. make the cut and not much else.

incontinentia wrote:Unlike your hero Poulter. Mr. make the cut and not much else.

As I said earlier. 8 top tens last year, 4 top 5's and a better major record in 2012 than almost anyone, and also a WGC that year too and perhaps the greatest European Ryder Cup player since Seve and a top 30 world ranking for a decade.

Yeah, he's crap isn't he?

IMO, at least one (if not two) of these Stalwart RC players will not qualify for the Euro RC Team on Merit and will need a Captains pick to be on 2014 team.

Lee Westwood
Graeme McDowell
Luke Donald

They are outside the top 9 right now, and I really haven't seen anything to suggest they will qualify on merit. 

IMO, Rory, Henrik, IJP, Rosie and Sergio are going to be make the team on merit for sure.

Luke, Westy, and GMac are going to battling Bjorn, Luiten, Donaldson, Larrazabal, Jimenez, Dubuisson, Molinari for the last 4 spots on merit and after about 1/3 of the qualifying period they are behind the 8 ball.

And all but Pablo are inside the top 50 and will should be playing the Majors and WGC's.

And I didn't even mention players like Hanson, Casey, and Manassero who are capable of winning a few tournaments and get into contention.

The course in Doha has some nice holes. There is a short par 4 on the back 9 (16 I think), where players can drive over a rock outcrop and take on the green, and a good risk reward dogleg par 4 (11 or 12 I think) where players drive over a desert wasteland and must choose how much of the corner to cut off.

To be honest I've gone right off Qatar since they won the right to host the world cup. Would like to impose some sort of sporting boycott until they give the tournament back to the football fans of the world. I don't mind them buying PSG, Harrods etc but the world cup should be sacred.

Pedro

Thanks for starting a Euro thread. I'm not sure why but I'm much more interested in this year's tour than last year's. Could be that the fields for this part are strong but I hope that they continue with decent fields for a while.

One thing is that the son of my teacher is in his first season on the Euro Tour (Tyrrell Hatton) so there is a little more interest for me as I have followed his progress for the past 4-5 years. T10 last week and a €31k was nice after a couple of missed cuts in SA. Also being listed in the Telegraph young sportsmen to watch in 2014 must have given him some confidence.

GPB wrote:IMO, at least one (if not two) of these Stalwart RC players will not qualify for the Euro RC Team on Merit and will need a Captains pick to be on 2014 team.

Lee Westwood
Graeme McDowell
Luke Donald

GPB I'll take a little private bet with you right now what those three qualify on merit (barring injuries). Much as I rate Rose, depending on his current injury, I'd say he was more likely to need a captain's pick .. and maybe even Poulter (who I also rate).

And I'm still not convinced Coco has his head in the right place despite his talent and recent slight improvement in form

In effect there is only one captains pick available should Poulter not qualify automatically.

Thanks guys. The desert swing is the start to "real" ET season, always with interesting names.

super, besides Poulter who'd be the second sure pick? Remember there are three captains picks.

I think Poulter will make the team.  His form seemed to be OK with two 2nd place finishes at the end of the year at HSBC and RtD.  He has a big head start over GMAC, Westy, and Luke.

Rose?  Not sure, but he has the best swing of the English guys, IMO.

You could say the South Africans have the three best swings in golf;
Oosthuizen, Rose and Schwartzel . . . . . .

I guess it is all subjective, but does anyone really have a better swing - in terms of looks and technique - than McIlroy?

It just looks like everything moves in perfect harmony. Which even els in his prime didn't manage.

I think Adam Scott has the best swing in Mens golf.

I think Suzann Pettersen has the best swing in Womens Golf.

Do you not think Adam scott's swing is a bit of an early 2000's tiger clone? Just not quite as good.

How do you rate a "best" swing? McIlroy and Scotts are pleasant to look at but is this a good indicator of sound mechanics? Furyk must have a great swing to have played at such a high level for so long, but it is aesthetically horrible.

Ogilvy and Donald have balanced nice swings too, and there is something about Casey's which I like too.

9C's is horrible. LIke a mad axeman trying to hit something before it runs away.

Steve Webster looks like he made an albatross on his first hole played (the 10th) today.
Not a bad way to start.

super_realist wrote:Ogilvy and Donald have balanced nice swings too, and there is something about Casey's which I like too.  

9C's is horrible. LIke a mad axeman trying to hit something before it runs away.

Donald has a great finish as has Dustin Johnson. I'm always amazed at the position he holds given the power that goes into it. Not a big fan of Casey's or Woods's. When he was playing in his little end of season roll up he calmed his swing down and it looked so much better. Funnily enough he equalled the course record.

Donald's swing is so smooth and balanced, but technically I don't think it's as good as Scott or the Saffers. Donald's swing looks like its all in his arms, which is probably why he is such a short hitter compare to the way McIlroy uses his core to effortlessly generate power. Schwartzel is a skinny bloke and he bombs it miles.

Always like Monty's actually. Quite old school, but effective in his prime.

As incont said, it doesn't matter really what it looks like so long as it can be repeated. Like Furyk, like Monty.

Donald may look good but his results the past couple of years have been a mess.

My Saffer comments (Louis, Charl and Justin) were meant facetiously, but Louis and Charl, and Scott, Rory, Woods, Phil, Ogilvy etc have an extra gear that the metronomically repetitive guys will never have.

I know that he's not a favourite on here but another couple of consistent low rounds from John Daly. Didn't even have a bogey today.

No surprise to see a Saffer atop the leaderboard early season.

Worth bearing in mind for Masters bets.

Another couple (in a row rather than the whole season!) and Daly might earn a bit of dosh.

RCB continuing his good form from last week (T4). Hanson also lurking.

Disappointing missed cuts from in-form MAJ and Bjorn, and 606's own favorite Shane Lowry.

Is Coetzee finally going to get a win on the European Tour, he must be in the list of best players never to have won on the Euro tour.

Where is Alex Noren, is he injured?

sirbenson wrote:Is Coetzee finally going to get a win on the European Tour, he must be in the list of best players never to have won on the Euro tour.

Yes, he has been very close a couple of times. Think he was in a play-off at Gleneagles a few years ago.

pedro wrote:

sirbenson wrote:Is Coetzee finally going to get a win on the European Tour, he must be in the list of best players never to have won on the Euro tour.

Yes, he has been very close a couple of times. Think he was in a play-off at Gleneagles a few years ago.

Was that the massive playoff with about 5 players? Sure I remember him in playoffs with both Bjorn and Rhys Davies (wherever he now is)... more than possible that he's been in more than one though, seems to be up there most weeks without ever winning.

Adrien Saddier??....Nope me neither.

pedro wrote:
Disappointing missed cuts from ...606's own favorite Shane Lowry.

God damn it. It's a stupid course anyway.

beninho wrote:Adrien Saddier??....Nope me neither.

http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/news/newsid=214585.html Everything you need to know. Or at least everything anyone knows.


For the record Coetzee was indeed in a 5-man playoff at Gleneagles which Bjorn won. The one I was thinking of with Davies was a different Saffa, van Zyl, that Dave Horsey ended up winning. If anyone cares.

beninho wrote:Adrien Saddier??....Nope me neither.

4th tournament on Tour. Beyond that, me neither. T6 at the Nelson Mandela and he only turned pro for Q school and earned his card. Bright future?

Pretty handy round! 6 under after nine must almost be disappointed to only get two more on the back. Or maybe tensed up/backed off.

Thorbjorn Olesen seems to have had a torrid time recently, slipped all the way down to 69th in the owgr's.
Good to see him find some form at last.
Not sure when he starts his PGA Tour campaign but I would have thought another season on the E.T. might have served him well. Having said which, a top finish in Qatar will get him in to the WGC MatchPlay and launch his season with a guaranteed healthy pay-day.

2014 ET season so far:

S.Africa: 3 wins
Spain: 2 wins
Denmark: 2 wins
ROW: zip, nil, nada

RCB, Olesen and Aiken in a good position to extend the dominance.

For professional golf obviously the swing that produces the best score over the long run is the best swing.

Furyk's look awful, but he's sure done just fine with it. I enjoy watching the unhurried Ernie Els and Fred Couples.

RCB, Oleson, Coetzee can all secure a spot in the Match play with a solid finish.

RCB needs to win.

A top 6 should be enough for Oleson and a Top 4 for Coetzee should be enough for him.

Shotrock wrote:For professional golf obviously the swing that produces the best score over the long run is the best swing.

Furyk's look awful, but he's sure done just fine with it. I enjoy watching the unhurried Ernie Els and Fred Couples.

It is certainly impressive how well Furyk has done with a swing that ugly. However, as long as it is where it should be at impact that is all that matters.

Here's a great article from Furyk which is about playing to your strengths and good course management. Well worth a read.

http://www.golf.com/instruction/furyk-4-easy-ways-hit-more-greens

twoeightnine wrote:
One thing is that the son of my teacher is in his first season on the Euro Tour (Tyrrell Hatton) so there is a little more interest for me as I have followed his progress for the past 4-5 years.  T10 last week and a €31k was nice after a couple of missed cuts in SA.  Also being listed in the Telegraph young sportsmen to watch in 2014 must have given him some confidence.

289,
Your buddy is also doing well this week! I'll keep an eye on him!  

Play-Off in the offing?

pedro wrote:2014 ET season so far:

S.Africa: 3 wins
Spain: 2 wins 3 wins
Denmark: 2 wins
ROW: zip, nil, nada

RCB, Olesen and Aiken in a good position to extend the dominance.

Garcia it was. 7 Spaniards/Saffers/Danes among the 10 first. And Dubai?

pedro,
More than that in the top ten:
Spain: 3
Saffers: 3
Scandy's: 3
Steve Webster: 1!
 
Nice win for Sergio and here's hoping it's a platform for success in the U.S.