Following his triumph in Bahrain where he won his second DP World Tour title, Laurie Canter arrives in Doha as one of the favourites.
Doha, Qatar: Exciting battles between past champions and emerging talents will be on showcase as the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters 2025 tees off today at the Doha Golf Club (DGC).
Now in its 28th edition, the prestigious tournament has featured as a key event in the DP World Tour since its inception in 1998.
With a whopping $2.5m prize purse up for grabs, along with 3,500 Race to Dubai points and 1,000 Ryder Cup points, the tournament marks the DP World Tour’s final Middle Eastern stop.
Despite the absence of the defending champion Rikuya Hoshino of Japan, the Doha event will see eight former winners of the prestigious Mother of Pearl Trophy in action.
Scotland’s Ewen Ferguson who claimed his maiden DP World Tour title at this event in 2022, leads the line-up of past Qatar Masters champions, while Antoine Rozner (2021) and Jorge Campillo (2020) will also be in action.
Saleh Al Kaabi and Daniil Sokolov will represent the hosts, with 18-year-old Scottish Dominic McGlinchey, who grew up playing in Qatar, also set to compete.
It is noteworthy that Rozner returns to DP World Tour competition after a short stint on the PGA Tour earlier this year.
Among the other returning champions is Justin Harding, the winner in 2019, alongside Eddie Pepperell who won a year earlier.
Former winners Chris Wood, Alvaro Quiros, and Darren Fichardt complete the list of past titleholders who will take to the turf today.
This year’s Qatar Masters lineup also features six of the eight winners from the 2025 Race to Dubai season.
Following his triumph in Bahrain where he won his second DP World Tour title, Laurie Canter leads the International Swing Rankings.
Spain’s Alejandro Del Rey captained his side – featuring amateurs Martin McGlasson, Fadi Ward, Emile Michaalani -- to victory in the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters Pro-Am, the traditional curtain-raiser to the DP Tour event, at the Doha Golf Club yesterday. Del Rey team won the AM shotgun event with a score of -31. In the PM shotgun event, Joshua Grenville-Wood team comprised of amateurs Gurbax Singh, Satnam Kaur, Omar Souab won with a score of -32. Nayef Al Beshri, AGM and Head of Branch Network, Commercial Bank, awarded the Pro-Am winners, while Technical Expert of Qatar Golf Association Mike Shoueiry and Organizing Committee Member and Media Coordinator Walid Saad presented the trophies to the PM shotgun event winners.
Canter arrives in Doha as one of the favourites.
“I’m really motivated to get up the world rankings. I’d love to play at Augusta, The Players Championship, some of the other Majors all with the goal of trying to get my PGA Tour card for next year,” Canter said.
“That’s such a nice goal to have. I’ve had a big stride there with third in Dubai and the win last week, but there’s a lot of work to do to secure one of those spots and hopefully get myself in the Masters in April,” Canter said.
Just few weeks after making history as the first Arab golfer to make the cut at a Rolex Series event, Moroccan amateur Adam Bresnu will also be in action, returning to the DP World Tour.
The 20-year-old is one of several players to receive an invite, who include Dubai-based HotelPlanner Tour member Joshua Grenville-Wood and 21-year-old English born Shergo Al Kurdi, who now represents Saudi Arabia and made his DP World Tour debut at this event in 2018.
Another Englishman, Calum Fitzgerald will make his first start on the DP World Tour after winning the Qatar Open Amateur Golf Championship at Doha Golf Club last year.
Saleh Al Kaabi and Daniil Sokolov will also represent the hosts, with 18-year-old Scottish Dominic McGlinchey, who grew up playing in Qatar, also set to compete.
Since last year’s edition, a number of changes have been made to the course at DGC, and the venue had received high praise.
DP World Tour's Senior Tournament Director Michael Erickson had lauded the Doha Golf Club’s condition as "immaculate", calling it “the best-prepared course in DP World Tour history.”
Fairway lines and contours have been reshaped on every hole, with green surrounds also extended on several holes on the front nine to allow for run off areas.
