Qatar Masters Betting Preview

Part three of the Desert Swing sees the European Tour move to Doha for the Qatar Masters and an excellent field has been assembled including the top two players in the world rankings.

This course is testing with the heavy rough demanding straight hitting off the tee, a set up Lee Westwood thinks should favour him, “When you get rough like you do in Doha, it is a good driver’s golf course so I would expect it to suit me. It’s almost like a Major Championship setup with firm greens and thick rough.”

The betting takes on a predictable pattern with Martin Kaymer 13/2 favourite followed by Westwood, recent Bahrain winner Paul Casey and former Qatar Masters winners Robert Karlsson and Alvaro Quiros. Nothing out of the ordinary, so it’s worth looking further down the field for value.

A man the betting has ignored is my pick David Horsey. After a tied-13th finish last week the United fan from Wilmslow is starting to hit some form. Two solid opening rounds were played after suffering from a migraine (thank you twitter) before a blistering 65 put him back in contention. A slightly disappointing 71 to close took the gloss of what was a very encouraging week.

The premium on good driving suits Horsey’s games as he was second in driving accuracy on Tour in 2010 and if he gets the putter going he could be dangerous. A winner of the BMW International Open last year, he won’t be scared of leading this type of field and at 100/1 represents value.