The Scottish trio of Ewen Ferguson, Marc Warren and Scott Jamieons tee-up in this week’s Commercial Bank Qatar Masters very much with contrasting emotions and agendas.
Ferguson, 27, tees-up in the 26th straight year anniversary of the event as defending champ after his one-shot victory a year ago on this week’s host Doha Golf Club course.
If he needed any reminder of his achievement then there’s none better than the huge banner picturing all 25 tournament winners again hanging from the back of the main Doha grandstand.
Scotland’s Ewen Ferguson returns to Doha as the defending Commercial Back Qatar Masters champion (Photograph – DP World Tour)
The Glaswegian set-up a fourth Scottish triumph on the desert-like Doha course thanks to a 70th hole chip-in eagle, and in what was the first of two victories last year and in only Ferguson’s second full season on Tour.
Ferguson said: “Winning here in Doha, I felt like I belonged out here
“I know my good golf is good enough to win. I think that’s where you get consistency from.
“The win also was just a surprise. I didn’t think I was ready that early and then it all just happened quite quickly for me and now I feel really ready to be here and win again”.
And while Ferguson would dearly love to join fellow Scot Paul Lawrie (1999 & 2012) banking a second Qatar Masters Mother of Pearl trophy, he’s just as keen to boost his current 43rd place standing on the Race to Dubai.
The top-50 on the Race to Dubai at the close of this week’s Qatar Masters will qualify for the November 16th commencing $US 10m season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
Ferguson said: “Your expectations change, so then what you’re practising and what your goals are just change.
“It’s all a mindset, isn’t it. My mindset is looking even further now, which back then it wasn’t.
“Also, now living in Dubai is why I want to be assured of playing in the DP World final. I’m inside the top-50 at present and I so much want to lock that in this week.
“It would be so disheartening if I didn’t qualify”.
Ferguson’s bubbly state is in contrast to Warren who returns to Doha, and where he finished runner-up in 2015, staring at losing his Tour card for only a second time in his 17-year Tour career.
Warren, 42, is lying 117th on the Race to Dubai money list and agonisingly only one place outside of holding onto to full 2024 Tour status at the close of this week’s event.
The East Kilbride man has earned just over £STG 8m in a four-event winning career spread over 488 DP World Tour events, and since first competing on the Tour 21-years ago.
Warren captured a fourth Tour win in 2019 but the two-year winner’s exemption expires this week, so he needs to first make the Qatar cut, and that’s been helping in playing all four rounds in his past five events.
It’s the same for Scott Jamieson, who dropped five places to 119th on the money list in missing last week’s Andalucia Masters cut. It was a third event in succession with the weekend off for the Scot.
And like Warren, Jamieson will also need to draw even more heavily on Qatari best results of T12th in both 2020 and 2012.
