Qatari golfer, Yasmian Al Sharshani competes at the Qatar Masters Pro-Am at the Doha Golf Club. Sharshani said she was ‘delighted to participate in the Pro-am 2014 and compete with the elite players, benefitting from the valuable tips during the competition’. RIGHT: 11th-ranked Sergio Garcia, leads a star-studded field taking part in the Doha event.
by Rizwan rehmat
DOHA: Defending champion Chris Wood feels tackling the tough greens in ‘windy’ Doha would be the key challenge at this week’s Qatar Masters where he will be joined by eight major champions and 75 European Tour winners vying for the top prize.
Last year the 26-year-old from Bristol won the Qatar Masters for his maiden European Tour title and the Briton will be looking to become the first golfer to successfully defend his title in Doha.
“I think the greens are the toughest part of this week,” Wood said when asked about his chances at the $2.5m event starting at Doha Golf Club today.
“They got the strong grain in and I know a few players that struggled to get used to it,” he added.
Wood said unpredictable wind patterns would also be a concern at the picturesque DGC.
“Obviously the wind can blow here as well unlike Abu Dhabi and Dubai,” Wood pointed out.
“So between these two things, that’s they key thing to try and master to do well this week,” Wood said.
Wood admitted there was pressure to do well coming back as the defending champion.
“There’s a lot more pressure on I think winning the your first event on the European Tour than probably winning your second,” Wood, 37, said.
“My first European Tour win is always going to be special to me and Qatar is going to always be up there as my favourite events,” he said.
Former world number one Luke Donald of Britain endorsed Wood’s sentiments on the DGC layout for the week.
“The course is very much the same,” Donald, 36, said.
“Course is in good shape. It’s a good layout. This is a good test,” he added.
“I think the course demands a lot of tee-to-green and I didn’t hit enough fairways (last week in Abu Dhabi), especially in the last three rounds. My game is under tournament conditions,” Donald added.
Playing in Doha after Abu Dhabi last week was planned early by Donald.
“You know it’s a long way to travel and I have just played Abu Dhabi. It’s a long way to travel for one week so I thought I would come back and play this week as well,” Donald said.
Ryder Cup hero Darren Clarke will be making his 500th official European Tour appearance.
The 2011 Open Championship winner will become the 25th player to achieve the feat.
Big South African Ernie Els, 45, will be looking for his second trophy in Doha. The 2005 Qatar Masters champion is one of 18 players in the field who have won European Tour events in the Middle East.
Reigning US PGA champion Jason Dufner, 36, will be making his second appearance in Doha.
No American has ever won the title at the 7400-yard course.
Dufner admitted he had challenges to overcome this week.
“It’s tough (course),” Dufner said.
“It’s a long golf course. A lot of par 5s are not reachable for me. So I need to be in the fairways. I need to wedge it well on those par 5s,” the American added. “I heard the winds can get pretty tricky so that can be a challenge. The greens are in much better shape than last year,” he added.
Henrik Stenson, coming off a stellar season in 2013, said adaptability was key to good scores at DGC.
“The trick is always to keep the ball below the holes on these greens because downhill, downwind and downgrain, they are lightning,” Stenson said.
“So it’s all about placing your approaches on the right side of the pin and from there you can be a bit more aggressive from the putter,” the Swede said. “Good striking is never going to be a bad thing,” he added.
Sergio Garcia was impressed with the greens at DGC.
“Yeah, they obviously look better. They look very nice. They are still faster and firm like they were in the past years, but they look like they have a little more grass and they are able to cut them a little bit shorter, too. So they look very nice,” Garcia said.
The Peninsula
