Commercial Bank Qatar Masters Predictions, Betting Odds & Picks

• The European Tour starts up again with another visit to the Middle East 
• This is just the second edition at Education City GC in Doha
• Spain’s Jorge Campillo returns to defend the title he won last March

Commercial Bank Qatar Masters Predictions and Picks

George Coetzee is an elite performer in desert events and posted T7 on his course debut last year. Back the South African E/W at +2500 (1/4 1-2-3-4-5) with bet365.

Andy Sullivan has a far better record in desert events than Aaron Rai. He can beat his fellow Englishman over 72 holes at -120 with DraftKings Sportsbook.

Pablo Larrazal made the top 10 at Education City last year and is a former winner in Abu Dhabi. The Spaniard can crack the top 20 at +500 with DraftKings Sportsbook.

Picks:

George Coetzee E/W at +2500 (1/4 1-2-3-4-5) with bet365

Andy Sullivan to beat Aaron Rai in a 72-hole match -120 at DraftKings Sportsbook

Pablo Larrazabal to land a top 20 at +500 with DraftKings Sportsbook

How to Watch Commercial Bank Qatar Masters

Commercial Bank Qatar Masters Profile

After a lengthy break – aside from the WGC-Workday Championship in Florida which was only played by a select few – the European Tour returns to action in the Middle East. The last time we saw a regular ET event was back in early February when World No.1 Dustin Johnson captured the Saudi International.

It means there’s some rust to shake off for the vast majority of this week’s field as only a handful –  Laurie Canter, Thomas Detry, Rasmus Hojgaard, Wade Ormsby, Thomas Pieters, Aaron Rai, Brandon Stone, and Andy Sullivan – teed it up in the WGC event.  A few more saw action on the South African Sunshine Tour last week but, as a whole, Europe’s golfers have been twiddling their fingers and thumbs for over a month.

The Commercial Bank Qatar Masters was first played in 1998 when Andrew Coltart, now a Sky Sports commentator, took the victory. Up until 2019, every edition was played at Doha GC but last year the tournament switched to a new course, Education City GC. While that severely restricts course form knowledge, both layouts are in the capital and exposed to wind.

The winner, Jorge Campillo, had finished runner-up at the former course 12 months earlier so it’s fair to say that past form at Doha GC is worth something and shouldn’t be cast aside.

Education City is a 7,307-yard par 71 with two par 5s on the front and one on the back. They measure in at 539 yards (No.2), 593 yards (No.6), and 592 yards (No.13). The course closes with a tough 513-yard par 4.

Campillo won with 13-under last year after beating Scotland’s David Drysdale in a play-off. Three Scandinavian players finished one shot back in a tie for third while three Swedes were in the top seven.

After the visit to Qatar, the European Tour heads to Africa for back-to-back events in Kenya while the top players will be jetting off to Austin, Texas for the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.

Coetzee Can Deliver in Doha

One year of course form is a problem in theory but not if you’re George Coetzee. The South African clearly liked the previous venue, Doha GC: he finished runner-up in both 2013 and 2018 while also crashing the top 10 in 2014 (5th), 2016 (7th), and 2018 (8th). But the good news is that he made an instant impact on the new course too.

Coetzee turned up at Education City last year, opened with a 70, and then fired 68-69-67 to finish in a tie for seventh. That gave him a third straight top 10 in this event. Not only does the Springbok star play well in the same city, he also thrives in the desert as a whole.

He’s pegged it up in all three Middle East events so far and logged a tied 11th in the prestigious Abu Dhabi Championship and a tied 10th at the Saudi International – the last tournament he contested.

A winner of the Portugal Masters in September, he enjoys being one of the bigger fish in a weakly-contested European Tour event so this looks a great opportunity for Coetzee to claim a sixth European Tour victory.

Take him each-way at +2500 at with bet365.

Sullivan Can Outscore Rai

DraftKings Sportsbook has English duo Andy Sullivan and Aaron Rai in a match and, on first glance, the latter may be the call. After all, he’s coming off a strong tied 18th place in the WGC-Workday Championship in Florida where Sullivan could only manage 68th.

But we’re in Qatar, not Florida this week and, bottom line, Sullivan is a far better performer in the desert than his compatriot. Sullivan had three top 20s (two more in the top 35) in six appearances in this event at Doha GC and was the halfway leader at Education City last year before sliding to T21.

Other exploits in the Middle East include second places at the DP World Tour Championship (2015), the Dubai Desert Classic (2016) and the Golf in Dubai Championship (2020).

By contrast, Rai has yet to crack the top 20 in 11 European Tour starts in the United Arab Emirates and both his last two starts in Qatar have resulted in missed cuts – the latter at Education City last year.

Take Sullivan to beat Rai over 72 holes at -120 with DraftKings Sportsbook.

Larrazabal To Land In Top 20

If you want a decent top 20 prices on another player to have posted good finishes at both Doha courses, look no further than Pablo Larrazabal. The Spaniard was fourth at Doha GC in 2018 and quickly learned the ropes at Education City last year when seventh. That impressive display was fuelled by middle rounds of 67 and 63.

As a past winner of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, Larrazabal has some real pedigree in the desert and few in the field come anywhere near his tally of five wins.

He hasn’t been setting the world alight recently but made the cut in both the Dubai Desert Classic and Saudi International, putting well in the former and hitting his irons well in the latter.

Another strong performance doesn’t look far away.

This is a far weaker field and taking Larrazabal for a top 20 at a generous +500 with DraftKings Sportsbook is good business.