Sergio Garcia makes his first appearance of a potentially momentous year this week as one of the big names at this year’s Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, which tees off today.
As well his perennial hunt for an elusive major, the Spaniard is almost certainly likely to feature in Europe’s Ryder Cup team at Hazeltine in September.
A win in Minnesota would mark Garcia’s sixth victorious Ryder Cup performance and cement his position as one of the greatest European players over the match play format.
There is also the small matter of golf at the Olympics in Brazil later this year, for the first time since 1904.
“On my way to @CBQatarMasters to start my golfing year. Excited to get going on a very big year for golf #Majors @rydercup @Olympics,” he said on Twitter earlier this week.
However, for now the most immediate thing on the 36-year-old’s mind will be trying to rediscover the form he showed in Doha two years ago to win the 2014 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.
The US$2.5 million masters is part of the European Tour and is one leg of three tournaments played in the Middle East at the beginning of each year, the other two being the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, won on Sunday by Rickie Fowler, and the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.
The tournament has attracted a strong field this year.
As well as Garcia, last year’s winner, Branden Grace, is in Doha to defend his title. If he does so, he will be the first player to achieve that since the tournament started in 1998, but he admitted it would be hard.
“The reality is that the chances are slim, especially when you look at the field,” he said on Monday. “So many top players like Sergio have won here and return year after year. Then we have Louis [Oosthuizen] coming back here and a lot of other players in really good form, so we’ll just do our best and see what happens.”
The South African had a splendid season last year, winning in Doha by just one stroke over Scotland’s Marc Warren, after carding a 19-under-par score of 269 over the four days.
He also won on the South African Sunshine Tour last year and was in contention to win the US Open at Chambers Bay, eventually finishing fourth.
The 27-year-old also showed signs of his considerable promise with another top-five finish at the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in August last year.
Fellow South African and 2010 The Open Championship winner Oosthuizen is to make his first appearance in Doha since 2013.
Frenchman Victor Dubuisson, another Ryder Cup prospect, will look to build on his two European Tour victories, although neither were in Qatar.
However, another former winner, 2006 champion Henrik Stenson, pulled out earlier this week because of injury.
There is also a strong representation from Asia.
Wu Ashun, China’s No. 1 player, is making his debut in Qatar. Last year, the 30-year-old won his first European Tour title, the Volvo China Open.
“I’m becoming more used to playing against European Tour players, although I don’t have a lot of experience of playing in the Middle East,” Wu said earlier this week.
Wu’s compatriot Jin Cheng is also to take part. The teenager is China’s top amateur and is to be in the field at this year’s Masters Tournament in April.
Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee and Kiradech Aphibarnrat are also to provide part of the challenge from Asia.
Previous winners of the Qatar Masters also include Adam Scott, Retief Goosen and Ernie Els.
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