Qatar Masters 2025 Tips: Six picks include 100/1 shot

Following the likeable Laurie Canter picking up his second win in less than 12 months in Bahrain, the DP World Tour will conclude it’s Middle Eastern adventure in Qatar this week, with the Qatar Masters at Doha Golf Club.

As always, here is Jamie Worsley's comprehensive preview and his Qatar Masters 2025 Tips. He's picked out six playersranging from 40/1 to 100/1!

TOURNAMENT HISTORY

The Qatar Masters was first held in 1998 and has remained on the DP World Tour schedule every year since. It has been staged at Doha Golf Club in all but two editions, with the 2020 and 2021 tournaments taking place at Education City Golf Club.

Just three players have recorded multiple victories in this event, with Paul Lawrie (1999, 2012), Adam Scott (2002, 2008) and Branden Grace (2015, 2016) all winning twice.

A star-studded list of winners is then enhanced by four further major champions: Ernie Els (2005), Henrik Stenson (2006), Retief Goosen (2007) and Sergio Garcia (2014).

Last five winners:

• 2024 – Winner: Rikuya Hoshino (-14)

Runner-up: Ugo Coussaud (-13)

• 2023 – Winner: Sami Valimaki (-18, playoff)

Runner-up: Jorge Campillo (-18)

• 2022 – Winner: Ewen Ferguson (-7)

Runner-up: Chase Hanna (-6)

• 2021 – Winner: Antoine Rozner (-8)

Runners-up: Gaganjeet Bhullar, Darren Fichardt, Guido Migliozzi (-7)

• 2020 – Winner: Jorge Campillo (-13, playoff)

Runner-up: David Drysdale (-13)

Last year’s edition went the way of Japan’s Rikuya Hoshino, as he claimed his first DPWT win by one shot over France’s Ugo Coussaud. Having earned his PGA Tour card at the end of the year, he doesn’t return to defend this week.

THE COURSE

The Championship Course at Doha Golf Club was designed by Peter Harradine in 1996 and has become one of the most recognisable courses in the Middle East. Aside from this event, it has hosted the International Series – Qatar on the Asian Tour in the previous two years.

This par 72 measures 7508 yards and possesses 4x par 3s (155-223 yards), 10x par 4s (307-521 yards) and 4x par 5s (535-639 yards). The scoring varies quite a lot due to its susceptibility to wind, though it is never easy even in benign conditions, which is shown by an average winning score of -15.3 across the last 10 renewals.

A largely open and exposed desert course, Doha Golf club can play firm and somewhat linksy. Most holes are framed by sandy waste areas, whilst natural limestone formations give it an appealing and authentic look compared to many courses in the region.

The fairways are narrow-average in width, with many at an angle to the fairway position. Thick rough and smart bunkering offers immediate protection, and with some ugly lies possible amongst the native shrubbery that litters the waste areas, this is one of the most demanding driving tests on tour.

Finding any of these dangers increases the difficulty on approach into the large, speedy and undulating paspalum greens. Greens-in-regulation percentages are usually high, though it’s tough to get it close and severe contours contribute to these surfaces ranking 4^th in putting difficulty.

Water comes into play on six holes and plays a starring role in an exciting risk/reward finish. It sits long and left of the drivable, 307-yard par 4 16^th and guards the front of the green on the two closing holes: the 155-yard par 3 17^th and the 589-yard par 5 18^th.

That finish usually ensures drama right until the very end and with some gusty winds forecast throughout, players will need to show great nerve to navigate these closing holes this week.

THE WEATHER

Conditions look stereotypically Middle Eastern, with warm, dry and bright weather predicted for each round of the event. With a constant breeze of around 12mph forecast for three of the four days, and gusts approaching 30mph, the field look set to experience true desert golf in Qatar.

KEY STATS

• SG: Approach

Doha Golf Club is a course that requires players to do everything well, especially in the potentially challenging conditions this week. However, it’s the huge, undulating greens that cause the most trouble, and it’s no surprise to see that those able to get it closest with high-class iron play have traditionally fared best here.

That is immediately evident from last year, as winner, Rikuya Hoshino ranked 4^th in approach; runner-up, Ugo Coussaud ranked 18^th, Scott Jamieson in 3^rd ranked 12^th and 5^th-place finisher, Jorge Campillo ranked 8^th.

2023’s leading duo, Sami Valimaki and Jorge Campillo each ranked inside the top 5 in approach; Ewen Ferguson ranked 12^th when taking the title in 2022; whilst 1^st and 2^nd-place finishers in 2018, Eddie Pepperell and Oliver Fisher, ranked 2^nd and 1^st respectively.

• SG: Putting (paspalum)

If you can’t dial in those irons, then you need to have a hot week on the greens to contend in Qatar.

Alternatively, you can do both, as Rikuya Hoshino did last year when taking the title, complementing his strong approach play with a 2^nd-ranked performance on the greens. Ugo Coussaud in 2^nd ranked 13^th and each other member of the top 5 ranked inside the top 30.

Sami Valimaki and Jorge Campillo ranked 13^th and 17^th on the greens respectively in 2023; with 3^rd- and 4^th-place finishers, Scott Jamieson and Nacho Elvira ranking inside the top 5.

Meanwhile, Ewen Ferguson ranked 6^th with the putter in blustery conditions in that high-scoring 2022 edition.

• SG: Off-the-Tee/Driving Distance

Doha Golf Club is a demanding driving course and although shorter, accurate hitters do enjoy some success, there’s no doubt the length of the course plays into the hands of those with at least a little power.

None of last year’s top 5 could be described as short and we saw particularly high-class and powerful driving performances from Ugo Coussaud in 2^nd, who ranked top 20 in each area, and Tom McKibbin in 4^th ranked 2^nd off-the-tee.

Each of the top 5 gained strokes OTT in 2023 and again, didn’t lack for distance; whilst in 2022, the reasonably long-hitting Chase Hanna finished 2^nd, and Adrian Meronk ranked 1^st OTT and 6^th in driving distance on his way to a 3^rd-place finish.

CORRELATING EVENTS (COURSES)

Doha Golf Club correlates with a whole host of courses across the Middle East, and the firm, exposed and sandy nature of the venue has always appealed to strong links players.

Events such as the now defunct Portugal Masters at Dom Pedro Victoria Course and previous Abu Dhabi Championship host, Abu Dhabi Golf Resort – a fellow Peter Harradine design – amassed some strong comp form with this week’s host and are worth a look, but below I’ve got five current tour venues that should provide us with the biggest clues for this week.

Ras Al Khaimah Championship (Al Hamra Golf Club)

Another setup designed by Peter Harradine, Al Hamra GC is an exposed desert course with narrow fairways, large paspalum greens and features a closing par 5 that is heavily protected by water.

Notable correlating form:

Rikuya Hoshino:

Qatar (1^st) / Ras Al Khaimah (6^th)

Thorbjorn Olesen:

Qatar (2^nd, 3^rd) / Ras Al Khaimah (1^st)

Adrian Meronk:

Qatar (3^rd) / Ras Al Khaimah (4^th, 6^th)

Scott Jamieson:

Qatar (3^rd, 3^rd) / Ras Al Khaimah (8^th, 9^th)

Pablo Larrazabal:

Qatar (4^th, 5^th) / Ras Al Khaimah (3^rd)

Jordan Smith:

Qatar (5^th, 6^th) / Ras Al Khaimah (2^nd)

Marcus Armitage:

Qatar (5^th) / Ras Al Khaimah (2^nd)

Adrian Otaegui:

Qatar (5^th) / Ras Al Khaimah (3^rd)

Rasmus Hojgaard:

Qatar (6^th) / Ras Al Khaimah (2^nd, 6^th)

Joshua Grenville-Wood:

Qatar (6^th) / Ras Al Khaimah (9^th)

Robert MacIntyre:

Qatar (6^th) / Ras Al Khaimah (9^th, 13^th)

Abu Dhabi Championship (Yas Links)

Yas Links took over hosting duties of the Abu Dhabi Championship in 2022 and has since developed strong form ties with Doha Golf Club.

Though the fairways are much more generous, this typical desert course plays to a similar level of difficulty as this week’s host in other areas. Perhaps most striking is the challenge on the large and dramatically undulating paspalum greens, which rank as the toughest to putt on the DPWT.

Notable correlating form:

Sami Valimaki:

Qatar (1^st) / Abu Dhabi (10^th)

Rafa Cabrera-Bello:

Qatar (2^nd, 3^rd, 3^rd) / Abu Dhabi (2^nd)

Thorbjorn Olesen:

Qatar (2^nd, 3^rd) / Abu Dhabi (3^rd)

Ugo Coussaud:

Qatar (2^nd) / Abu Dhabi (6^th)

Scott Jamieson:

Qatar (3^rd, 3^rd) / Abu Dhabi (10^th)

Tom McKibbin:

Qatar (4^th, 9^th) / Abu Dhabi (10^th)

Matthew Jordan:

Qatar (5^th) / Abu Dhabi (10^th)

Paul Waring:

Qatar (6^th, 12^th) / Abu Dhabi (1^st)

Antoine Rozner:

Qatar (6^th) / Abu Dhabi (6^th)

Bahrain Championship (Royal Golf Club)

Bahrain Championship host, Royal Golf Club ticks many of the same boxes as the courses above and has produced some notable crossover form with Doha Golf Club after just two editions. The main difficulty again comes on the large and heavily contoured paspalum greens, which rank as the 2^nd-toughest to putt on tour behind Yas Links.

Notable correlating form:

Rikuya Hoshino:

Qatar (1^st) / Bahrain (12^th)

Joakim Lagergren:

Qatar (2^nd) / Bahrain (8^th)

Ugo Coussaud:

Qatar (2^nd) / Bahrain (12^th)

Jorge Campillo:

Qatar (2^nd, 2^nd) / Bahrain (13^th)

Pablo Larrazabal:

Qatar (4^th, 5^th) / Bahrain (2^nd)

Rasmus Hojgaard:

Qatar (6^th) / Bahrain (8^th)

Antoine Rozner:

Qatar (6^th) / Bahrain (12^th)

Scottish Open (The Renaissance Club)

Over to Scotland now and the Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club rated as the best statistical match for this week’s challenge. An exposed, modern links layout, it possesses narrow, often angled fairways and large sloping greens, ranking closely to Doha GC in both long and short-game difficulty.

Notable correlating form:

Marc Warren:

Qatar (2^nd) / Scottish (4^th)

Erik Van Rooyen:

Qatar (2^nd) / Scottish (6^th)

George Coetzee:

Qatar (2^nd, 2^nd) / Scottish (9^th)

Bernd Wiesberger:

Qatar (3^rd) / Scottish (1^st)

Marcus Kinhult:

Qatar (3^rd, 3^rd) / Scottish (6^th)

Andrew Johnston:

Qatar (4^th) / Scottish (4^th)

Byeong Hun An:

Qatar (5^th) / Scottish (3^rd)

Kalle Samooja:

Qatar (5^th) / Scottish (9^th)

Robert MacIntyre:

Qatar (6^th) / Scottish (1^st, 2^nd)

Rasmus Hojgaard:

Qatar (6^th) / Scottish (10^th)

Alfred Dunhill Links Championship

My final event is the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, which is played across some of the most iconic links courses in Scotland. Though a more forgiving test off the tee, the challenges into, on and around the generally large and undulating greens, compares closely to this week’s host.

Notable correlating form:

Branden Grace:

Qatar (1^st, 1^st) / Dunhill Links (1^st)

Chris Wood:

Qatar (1^st) / Dunhill Links (4^th, 7^th, 9^th)

Jeunghun Wang:

Qatar (1^st) / Dunhill Links (5^th)

Sami Valimaki:

Qatar (1^st) / Dunhill Links (6^th)

George Coetzee:

Qatar (2^nd, 2^nd) / Dunhill Links (5^th)

Thorbjorn Olesen:

Qatar (2^nd, 3^rd) / Dunhill Links (1^st, 2^nd)

Oliver Wilson:

Qatar (2^nd, 5^th) / Dunhill Links (1^st)

Joakim Lagergren:

Qatar (2^nd) / Dunhill Links (2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, 4^th)

Marc Warren:

Qatar (2^nd) / Dunhill Links (4^th, 5^th, 5^th)

Marcus Armitage:

Qatar (5^th) / Dunhill Links (2^nd)

Jordan Smith:

Qatar (5^th, 6^th) / Dunhill Links (5^th)

Matthew Jordan:

Qatar (5^th) / Dunhill Links (5^th)

Paul Waring:

Qatar (6^th, 12^th) / Dunhill Links (3^rd)

Antoine Rozner:

Qatar (6^th) / Dunhill Links (4^th)

THE FIELD

Last week’s Bahrain Championship winner, Laurie Canter is the top-ranked player in the field at #51 and alongside #94 Jordan Smith, is one of just two players from the world’s top 100.

Neither of our last two winners will tee it up, with 2022 champion, Ewen Ferguson the most recent champion in the field. He is one of eight past winners, joined by Antoine Rozner (2021), Jorge Campillo (2020), Justin Harding (2019), Eddie Pepperell (2018), Chris Wood (2013), Alvaro Quiros (2009) and Darren Fichardt (2003).

Meanwhile, the leading player on the Japanese Tour in 2024 and former #1 amateur, Takumi Kanaya makes his first DPWT start of the year and will be hoping to emulate compatriot, Rikuya Hoshino’s win in the event last year.

Qatar Masters Odds

SELECTIONS

Market leaders (1/4 5 places): Laurie Canter 12/1, Jordan Smith 22/1, Jorge Campillo 25/1, Johannes Veerman 25/1, Ewen Ferguson 30/1

This week’s field has thinned out again in terms of quality, with Patrick Reed and David Puig back on LIV and Thorbjorn Olesen also absent, which means another wide open event on the DP World Tour.

There’s nobody that especially appealed from the head of the betting, and I’m instead going to start a little further down with three-time DPWT winner, Haotong Li, who has made a promising start to 2025.

1.25 pts Haotong Li each-way (1/5 - 8 places) @ 40/1

Li was playing solid enough golf at the end of 2024, recording a 7^th-place finish in the Dunhill Links on his third-last start of the year. He began this year in a similar vein of form, hitting the ball well in the Dubai Desert Classic. This enabled him to enter the final round in 19^th place, before a closing 77 dropped him into 52^nd.

However, the response to that disappointing finish has been encouraging, as he followed it with a 22^nd-place finish in Ras Al Khaimah and again hit the top 25 last week in Bahrain, despite being on the wrong side of the draw bias.

The Chinese star was at his best with the irons last year, ranking 12^th in approach and he’s again looking strong in this area at this early point of the year, ranking 2^nd. The driver has remained steady for this big hitter and after struggling on the greens on his first two starts of 2025 it was a positive to see him putt well last week; more like it for a player who ranked 24^th on the greens last year.

Li missed the cut on his Doha GC debut in 2017 and only returned to the venue last year, though put up a much improved 16^th-place finish, looking particularly good in approach and on these challenging greens. He has bundles of top 25s at comp events, including a 3^rd-place finish in the 2022 Ras Al Khaimah Championship and two top 7s in the Dunhill Links, which increases my confidence in him contending this week.

1 pt Daniel Hillier each-way (1/5 - 6 places) @ 50/1

Daniel Hillier has been in great form since the end of last year and as one of the strongest ball-strikers in the field, he can improve an already likeable record at Doha GC this week.

Hillier finished 2024 by making each of his last eight cuts on the DPWT and recording five top-25 finishes. He then began this year with an excellent runner-up finish to Tyrrell Hatton in the Dubai Desert Classic and after a week to forget when missing the cut in Ras Al Khaimah, he bounced back by finishing 24^th in Bahrain.

There is nobody in this field who has been hitting the ball as well as the New Zealander over that period, ranking 7^th off-the-tee – where he marries power with a reasonable level of accuracy – and 10^th in approach over his previous 50 rounds. Whilst the putter wouldn’t be his strongest area, he has been solid enough on the greens lately and returns to a course at which he putted competently in 2024.

Hillier held the halfway lead in Doha on his debut in 2023, before slipping to 16^th place over the weekend. He put in a similarly promising performance last year, entering the final round in 12^th place, though shot a 76 to fall to 42^nd. I’m hopeful that he’ll finally put the four rounds together this week.

1 pt Joe Dean each-way (1/5 - 8 places) @ 50/1

We were on Joe Dean last week and having found himself on the wrong side of the draw, he did excellently to climb into a 13^th-place finish. Ranking 3^rd tee-to-green, I had to give him another shot at earning a breakthrough win in the Middle East.

Off the back of that brilliant and life-changing 2024 campaign, Dean started 2025 with a 68^th-place finish in Dubai but has come on massively on his next two starts, finishing 5^th in Ras Al Khaimah and then 13^th in Bahrain.

He’s driven it well on each of those three starts and found something in approach on the last two. His long game was especially good last week, as he ranked 5^th in approach and 10^th off-the-tee – no surprise for a player who ranks 20^th OTT and 33^rd in approach in this field over the last 12 months. Packing plenty of power and a competent putter, he’s a great fit for Doha GC.

That wasn’t evident last year, as Dean missed the cut on his debut, but that was his first start of the year, and it was pleasing to see him at least take to these greens. Those performances in the last two weeks act as encouraging pieces of comp form and providing he doesn’t get unlucky again this week, I’d expect him to be in the mix in Qatar.

1 pt Sam Bairstow each-way (1/5 - 6 places) @ 55/1

Sam Bairstow is also a player who wasn’t favoured by last week’s draw, having been grouped with Dean in the first two rounds. Despite that, he fought his way into a 32^nd-place finish and now at a bigger price than last week, in a weaker field no less, I’m happy to give him another go at a course he took to on debut in 2024.

Bairstow started the new season a little slowly after a very promising first season on tour, but he has looked more at it in the previous two events, finishing 16^th in Ras Al Khaimah and 32^nd in Bahrain.

He’s driven it well across each start in 2025, ranking 16^th in this field and is finding plenty of fairways to go with his length, as the 28^th-longest driver on tour last year. He appeared to rediscover some quality in approach over the weekend in Bahrain and ranking 20^th on the greens in 2024, we know he has the ability to handle these surfaces.

Indeed, Bairstow led the field in putting on his debut at Doha GC last year, helping him to a 13^th-place finish. As a former runner-up of the Amateur Championship, this talented youngster is suited to exposed, linksy layouts and I can think of few tests that look as good a fit for his skillset than this week.

1 pt Frederic LaCroix each-way (1/5 - 8 places) @ 60/1

Frederic LaCroix was one of the best drivers on tour last year and with some positive signs on show on his latest start in the Ras Al Khaimah Championship, he could be a big danger this week.

LaCroix’s second stab at the DPWT started excellently in 2024, as he recorded three top 5s across his first four starts, all of which came on exposed, somewhat linksy course. This theme continued throughout the rest of the season, and he finally got rewards for his consistency by earning his tour breakthrough in the Danish Golf Championship.

He finished out the year with some solid performances in South Africa and though the short game led to him missing the cut on his first start of 2025 in Dubai, he bounced back the following week with a 22^nd-place finish in Ras Al Khaimah.

The Frenchman ranked 14^th tee-to-green last year but it was the driver that impressed most, ranking 9^th in this field, and possessing both power and accuracy. That being said, it was his approach play that especially caught the eye at Al Hamra, as he ranked 17^th. Something I’m hoping he maintains this week.

LaCroix has missed the cut on each visit to Doha GC, though I see no reason why that can’t be rectified. He’s never missed a cut in four attempts at the Ras Al Khaimah Championship, recording a best of 3^rd last year and he then finished an impressive 4^th in Bahrain just a week later. Which represents some appealing comp form for this test.

1 pt Kristoffer Reitan each-way (1/5 - 8 places) @ 100/1

After turning pro at the end of 2018 following a successful amateur career, Kristoffer Reitan hasn’t quite kicked on in the pro ranks, with injury problems and the COVID pandemic no doubt hindering his progress. However, the Norwegian hit form on the Challenge Tour at the end of last year and he now looks ready to make an impact on the DPWT.

Reitan was a former #16 amateur and immediately worked his way onto the DPWT in 2019 after finishing 20^th at Q School. He showed some promise that year, though like many players he stalled following the pandemic and it’s been a long way back since.

He showed some promise on the Challenge Tour at the end of 2023 and carried that over into last season, recording nine top-25 finishes. He was in especially good form in the latter part of the season, reeling off six top 20s in a row, which culminated in a victory in the Challenge Tour Grand Final and earned him a DPWT card for this season.

Missing three of his first four cuts on tour at the end of 2024 in Africa, he didn’t really hit the ground running but he’s impressed on each start in 2025, finishing 36^th in Ras Al Khaimah and 24^th from the wrong side of the draw in Bahrain.

His quality lies with the driver, where he combines top-25 power with a handy level of accuracy to rank 11^th at this early point of the season. It was also encouraging to see his irons fire last week and as a player who has often looked comfortable on the greens on the DPWT, he looks an ideal fit for Doha.

Reitan led after the stroke play element of the 2016 Boys Amateur Championship, which was contested at Muirfield and The Renaissance Club. Although this alluring linksy pedigree didn’t translate to success in this event when missing the cut in 2019, his performances the last two weeks show what he can do on similar setups and as a player with some serious untapped potential, he’s an attractive prospect this week.

You can access all our latest Golf Odds over on Betfred.com

You can find all Jamie's latest Golf Betting Tips over on our dedicated golf Insights hub