European Tour: Commercialbank Qatar Masters

I'm not sure if Mac or anyone else was planning to start a thread for this...
I woke up early today and had a look at the Qatar LB and I liked what I saw - it's always nice to see the top guys putting up top performances. And that's exactly what seems to happen this morning. We were talking about Colsaerts yesterday on kwini's thread, and there he is in an early lead, confirming once again his intentions for a (hopefully) special season. We've seen already Ollie playing very well this year, but how great would be to see him doing this consistently once again. Earlier on he was leading at 5-under, pitty about those two bogeys at 3rd and 4th, but still very well placed. Good to see also Paul Lawrie continuing to show some great form.

The last couple of days I saw a lot of the guys were complaining on tweeter about the very strong winds in Qatar and sand getting in their eyes as they were practicing, not sure how the conditions are there today...

Last year Bjorn had that brilliant win here, confirming his great return to form, will he be able to repeat that again this week?At the moment from all the top players in the field, only Goose had a relatively slower start, but there is plenty of time for things to change...

But look who moved to the top now as I've been writing this... It's the Americans!
John Daly and Ben Curtis leading on the European Tour?! Whatever next...

Can someone explain to me how Ben Curtis seems to have a ten year exemption on the European tour for winning the Open? I thought it was only five years you got for winning it?

PS, Beem and Micheel are given the same length exemption.

I thought I read it was a 10 year exemption for Open Championship winners after reading the aftermath of Darren Clarkes victory.

Have to say it's nice working later in the day as I get to see a lot of the coverage of the events in Qatar, Dubai, Abu Dhabi etc.

Looked very windy out there visibility must be awkward with sand blowing in the players faces constantly. Nice to see Paul Lawrie doing well very nice swing and seems a really genuine person.

Mac, Fader,

seems to be a bit of a mistery as to what's the latest word on these ET exemptions for the Open winners, although it is probably still 10 years...
Last year, DC has gained the following exemptions after his Open win:
- 5-year exmption into Masters, US Open and USPGA-
- exemption into the Open until age of 60
- European Tour exemption until the end of 2018 (that means ~7 years)

But I guess (not sure) that last exemption 'only' until 2018 may be somewhat related to the fact that in that year he will be 50 years old...? I think they used to have 10 year exemptions on the PGA Tour as well, but they reduced that to 5 years about 10-15 years ago...

Good start from Lee and Day, although it looks that the late starters may find it hard to reach the 5-under par mark set by Daly. Poor starts by Karlsson, Matteo, Bjorn and GMac. Still windy and tricky conditions out there...

If you check this out

http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/players/examptioncat/index.html

It would seem the following major winners can still play on the European tour based on their major win;

Rich Beem (2002 PGA, so ten year exemption)
Mike Weir (2003 masters, at least 9 years)
Curtis (2003 open, at least 9 years)
Furyk (2003 Us open) – he may have qualified through another category if needed.
Micheel (2003 pga)
Campbell (2005 open)

The evidence would suggest a ten year European tour exemption for any major winner. So why only five from the PGA tour?

Is it just not a case of the exemption length has been changed? Used to be 10 years maybe now 5? If thats the case then they can hardly go back to them and say no its only 5 years now etc and the tour just have to live with it. I think 10 years is too long anyway.

With regard to the golf in Qatar, disappointing finishes to the round by Kaymer, Sergio and Quiros although with lead at -5 and it being Daly, certainly in good shape. Especially when you consider the difficulty of the wind today.

Was just trying to work out what Paul Lawrie needs to get into the top 50 for the week before the masters. This may well be his goal given his current form.

The current world number 50 has 2.71 points, assuming this stays about the same then a reckon Paul needs to do the following;

If he can play 5 events (his website does not have an updated schedule so no idea what his plans are), he needs to average around 8 points a tournament.

If he plays 4 events then it will be more like an average of 10 points an event. Both these assume his divisor goes to 51.

Can anyone confirm this and whether any of the events coming up contain enough OWGR points to allow this? I actually thought it would have been easier to move from 78 to inside the top 50.

Another factor would be if he had a very good result this week and got into the matchplay as he would then probably be guaranteed a nice number of points just for turning up.

Not such great viewing with all that wind going on at the moment. In these circumstances Gonzo's 5-under (or Day's 4-under) looks really special compared to Daly's 5-under in better conditions earlier on...

As for Paul Lawrie, I think the most realistic path to getting in top 50 is to get a win or a couple of top 3's this week and next when the owgr purse is plentiful. For guidance, with a solo 2nd this week he'll be up in the mid 50's and with a win, in the mid 40's. After Qatar and Dubai, apart from the WGCs, the events on the ET before the Masters will be mainly around the minmum level of 24 points, so he'll need a win in one of those to make an impact. If he gets into the Match Play, losing in the 1st round there means he'll get only ~2pts, which is nothing really, so he'll need more than that to climb further up in the rankings...

Wow, tremendous 3xbirdie finish for Gonzo in those conditions...!

Whats happened to Stenson & Ross Fisher....

Didn't really expect to see Daly, Curtis and Micheel outscoring Mahan!
Another round like that and Hunter will discover that zero world ranking points is the same whether he's in Qatar or Phoenix!

Really think Paul Lawrie's short-term target has to be the WGC MatchPlay, an opportunity for lightening to strike. In that regard, good starts also for Coetzee (anyone else think he's on the verge of being the next great South African?) and Colsaerts. 'Course, a win would resolve a lot of questions for all three!

It's early days for RC qualification as well as this tournament, but I was surprised to see Gonzo high up the European Ryder Cup selection lists. Hadn't really previously pictured him featuring - but why the heck not if he's playing well. And I loved him in The Muppet Show.

[As an aside, I stumbled on the lists because they are now directly linked up on the new look BBC Sport's golf page; I'll give it some time before passing judgement, but my instant reaction is that my eyes hurt]

Gonzo is only up there as won the Singapore open in November. Cant see him being in the Ryder cup but been wrong before. Good player.

There's usually at least one unexpected person who has a good run at the right time, think Hanson, Hansen, Wilson etc. It's as likely to be Gonzo as anyone.

An in-form Gonzo can be almost as good as anybody out there. I followed him briefly at the Irish Open two years ago (before he got injured) when he finished 3rd and was really impressed...

Daly after his round today:
"It was brutal. I’m pretty shocked myself shooting 5 under... It was one of the best rounds I ever played. I mean that..."

Good job Rory's not playing - he'd've had to be extra careful with any sand off the green . . . .

Pleased to see Kaymer show a glimpse of good form - looks like Olly rather lost it, but assume Colsaerts impressed him. What's the forecast for the rest of the week I wonder?

Kwini - on of many great South Africans me thinks. Grace looks better and better, Aiken seems a real character and not a plastic imitation, Coetzee is excellent but just needs to show he can/will stick at it and King Louis and Charl have a lot more to give.
Rory and sand comment has me chortling! Poor lamb!!

Forcast is still windy for the rest of the week in Doha, but progressively dying down (~40km/h on Fri, ~25-30km/h on Sat and ~15km/h on Sun).

Rory's fine, this week he's playing in the sand in Dubai with Caro... no penalties expected

Watched some of the action today and it looked pretty tough. They almost had to use a sand wedge off the tees...

I wonder if there will be difference btw the morning and afternoon winds Friday, as this may shuffle the leaderboard.

Bad start for Bjorn. Had a good week last week in Abu Dhabi, but seems he got rubble in his machinery.

Quite a surprise to see John Daly atop. But I guees his body mass and worn down leather skin won't notice a mild sand blasting. With that being said, I'm sick of tired of keeping watching this guy living off invitations and - presumably - appearance money . However I wouldn't be surprised, nor unhappy, to see him card a 78 on Friday .

Pedro..I don't take Sky sports so tell me are the pro's wearing ski goggles.

doon

google "stream hunter"

Watched a bit of the program this morning when it came on at 7am and they had Tom Lewis with them. He came across as a level headed lad. Seemed like he knows it's going to take hard work to get to where he wants to be but realistic in his goals as well. Having the 2 year exemption from his win last year will help his quest.

Didn't sound like there will be any play today.

The forecasted 40km/h winds turned out to be more like 70km/h, so it's going to be a 54 hole event...

Like Daly and Gonzo yesterday, today it was up to Damien McGrane (-5 after 9 holes) and Branden Grace (-4 after 6 holes) to show once again that strange things (i.e. great scores) can still happen on that golf course in such blustery/sandy conditions... Unfortunately, they didn't stop the play soon enough for Lee and many others to avoid some nasty dark spots on their scorecards...

If Saturday's winds subside as the ET site forecasts, Lee and the rest of his "wave" might feel a touch aggrieved.
Good start from Mahan, too.

(See Dick Mast is leading Senior Tour qualifier - would expect him to do quite well in Europe, no exemption on the Champions Tour but a good player who never quite made it on the PGA Tour. Mike Donald, unlucky to lose a US Open on the 91st hole, also in.)

Have to admit, I never heard of Dick Mast, great name though...

Daly was 2-times lucky so far, 1st day by getting that great score and today by not having to go out and play. Only 1-time lucky for Gonzo...

pd,
There's a quite well known NASCAR driver of years gone by called Dick Trickle; perhaps a Tiger pseudonym?

Mast is a decent player, but inconsistent. A stalwart of the Hogan (now Nationwide) Tour when it started up, occasionally getting his Tour card only to lose it again.

kwinigolfer wrote:pd,
There's a quite well known NASCAR driver of years gone by called Dick Trickle;

Really? Presumably that inspired the name of Tom Cruise's character in the much-maligned "Days of Thunder". "Cole Trickle" sounds almost as comical...

Had a look at the seniors quali.Paul Wesslingh is a decent player but no idea he was old enough.Top Midlands player but probably never made much in prize money. May think this is another way to start the cash flowing

Mahan gone home. Inexplicable decision................

He's +1 after 6 holes. Tournament WILL NOT go to Monday, yet he's off to America. If he got appearence mnoney then he needs to give it back..........

Has Mahan done a runner?

Americans really dont cope well outside the USA. Anyone remember Bubba at the french last season, and now Mahan.

Poor showing from Mahan, to take appearance money (can't see any other reason an american travels to europe) then disappear is outrageous. Lets hope he gets no further offers to play over here unless they are earned.

Sorry guys, not at home at the moment, where was this reported??

europeantour.com is now reporting this. SCOOP John Cregan!

Hmmm... Do you mean this paragraph...

"Many of the players are also entered for the Omega Dubai Desert Classic next week, but American Hunter Mahan - one over par after six holes of his second round - is heading back to California for the Pebble Beach Pro-am"

I just wonder, does that really mean that he's gone now? Or just stating that he's going back to US next week as opposed to many of the other European players...

I certainly cant find anything to confirm he has pulled out.

Yeah, Might be premature exclamation! But curious thing is, this was a newly inserted paragraph and I'm not sure whether or not the "Dubai" reference was in there originally.
Haven't seen any other reference though, and he's still shown on the leaderboard so perhaps there's a contextual thing going on.
Would have been strange as he's there with her Cowboys cheerleader missus who's off to East Africa on some charity shindig when he flies to Monterey. We'll get to the bottom of it sooner or later . . . .

I heard Mahan had to rush to the bank to get his appearance money before they got sanded in.

Not even lawernce donegon knows about mahans plans.

lawrencedonegan @JeremyBear sorry I don't know. Hope u haven't bet on him! #Mahan

Check out jeremy on twitter, he is one heck of a bear.

kwinigolfer wrote:europeantour.com is now reporting this. SCOOP John Cregan!

Looks like my "scoop" is more of a !!!!!!

Appears the scoop has proved unfounded as I've just seen Mahan putt out on the 1st hole (his 10th)

Mahan's just fine, although he may well do a runner back to the US later today if he can't birdie his last 3 holes...

Gonzo keeps going backwards but I see a bunch of other fellow Spaniards doing well right now. Great fight back from Lee, 2 birdies and an eagle since he resumed his round. But the most impressive comeback of them all looks to come from Thomas Bjorn, that'll be a hell of a recovery if he can make the cut after that horrible 79 yesterday...

Wow, Brilliant from Bjorn, Olly going well now also.
And Hunter's got an early start back home. Pathetic.
Any ideas what conditions are like?

Still some wind about, but conditions look much, much better now, so great opportunity for those late starters to make an impact... Somehow Hanson still manages to drop two of his leading shots. Sergio, Ollie, Colsaerts, Paul Lawrie and others making a move at the moment...
KJ, GMac and Franny need to be careful though...

Prince

Do you know if full OWGR points allocation is awarded when an event is shortened from 72 holes to 54?

Mac, answer is yes, they only cut points for 36-hole events...

Good, stuff. I guess our lawrie calculation hold then. The way I see it, a 69 would pretty much guarantee a top 2 and at least mid 50's in the OWGR.

I don't think it's worth starting a new thread, so I'll give it a mention here...
Probably not too many people remember much about the Irish pro Gary Murphy. Never had a particularily 'stellar' carreer on the ET (although he did earn ~€2mil. in the last 10 years). Anyways, he decided recently to give up the pro carreer and joined Setanta Sport and will start tonight a golf show on Setanta Ireland. Setanta is trying to portray him as a new 'Feherty' of golf tv, etc... His 1st guest is Padraig and the interview (published a few days ago on Setanta's page) already sparked some controversy over here with Padraig talking among other things about who he thinks should represent Ireland in the Olympics in 2016. Personally I wish they didn't start talking about this subject now, but there you go... Obviously it did the trick for Setanta and for Gary creating a lot of buzz and publicity for the new show.
If anyone is interested or has nothing better to do on a Saturday night, it'll be aired at 10pm tonight...

Good luck to him - he did me a favour in the Irish Open about 3 yrs ago, in goldwolf's league!

PS: We surely don't need any more Fehertys - the newly minted American version surely more than enough for one century?