European Tour Stays in the Middle East For The Qatar Masters

By Fred Altvater on January 23, 2013

Jamie Donaldson won the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship last week on the European Tour.  This week the Euros stay in the Middle East and move six hours up the road for the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.

Qatar is a sovereign Arabic country that sits on a peninsula that juts into the Persian Gulf.  It has very close military ties to the United States and is home to the U.S. Central Command and the Combined Air Operations Center.

Qatar sits on huge oil and natural gas reserves.  With the world’s ever growing demand for oil, Qatar has become the wealthiest country in the world.

The Qatar Masters is played on the Doha Golf Club, offers a $2.5 million purse and draws a quality field of top European Tour players.

They did refuse to pay a $3 million appearance fee to Tiger Woods.  After his missed cut in Abu Dhabi last week they are looking very smart indeed.

It is the second leg of a three tournament swing through the Middle East.  The European Tour heads to Dubai for the Omega Dubai Desert Classic next week.

Paul Lawrie and Adam Scott have each won here twice.  Other former Qatar Masters champions include:  Ernie Els, Henrik Stenson, Retief Goosen and Thomas Bjorn.

In the field this week at the Qatar Masters:  Thomas Bjorn, Sergio Garcia, Paul Lawrie, Ernie Els, Jason Dufner, Justin Rose, Louis Oosthuizen and Martin Kaymer.

The Golf Channel will carry the Qatar Masters live Wednesday, January 23, 5:00-9:00 AM ET and on Thursday, Jaunary 24, 4:30-9:00 AM ET.  The third and fourth rounds will be shown Friday (1/25) and Saturday (1/26), 4:30-8:30 AM ET.