Did You Know - Commercial Bank Qatar Masters
• The event this year is celebrating its 20th playing. Doha Golf Club hosted the Qatar Masters firstly in 1998 and won by Andrew Coltart. The Peter Harradine design has staged the tournament every year.
• Should the 1999 and 2012 champion, Paul Lawrie win again, the Scot would be the first player to win the title on three occasions.
• There are 14 players in the field who have won European Tour events in the Middle East, including Ernie Els. The South African, the champion in Qatar in 2005, jointly holds the record for most European Tour titles in the region, with four, along with Rory McIlroy and Henrik Stenson.
• The Commercial Bank Qatar Masters holds the European Tour record for the fewest number of shots between the halfway leaders and the cut mark – just five in 2004. The 36 leaders were on 138 (-6), whilst the cut fell at 143 (-1). This was matched in 2012 at the Sicilian Open.
• Steve Webster made European Tour history by becoming the first player to begin a tournament with an albatross. He stated from the par five, tenth hole in this event in 2014.
• Jakub Hrinda made history in 2015 by becoming the youngest player to compete in the tournament, aged 14 years and 305 days. This beats the previous record of Dominic Foos, who was 15 and 142 days in 2013.
