Qatar Masters

January 29th, 2010

Week two of the European Tour’s “desert swing” takes us Doha, the capital city of Qatar, for the 13th playing of the Commercialbank Qatar Masters. Those players that competed in last week’s Abu Dhabi Golf Championship will arrive this week to a very similar set of challenges with the Doha Golf Club offering the same style of desert golf. The course is certainly long at 7388 yards, par 72, but the length of the golf course should only trouble the players if the desert winds begin to blow. However, whether the conditions are benign or blustery the players will certainly need to guard against a watery grave with H2O coming into play on a third of the holes at Doha Golf Club.

Click here to view the slideshow

In recent week’s the Tour Blog has brought to your attention a number of new names from the current roster of Titleist players; names such as Neil Schietekat, Jbe’ Kruger and Rick Kulacz for example. In this week’s Blog Englishman Kenneth Ferrie is another name to add to this list. Kenneth Ferrie will be a name that is familiar to many of you largely thanks to a couple of high profile performances. Kenneth was paired with Phil Mickelson in the final group of the 2006 U.S Open at Winged Foot golf club but his finest hour undoubtedly came at the K-Club in 2005 where he claimed European Tour victory at the European Open. Kenneth is in the field this week in Qatar and touched base with the Titleist team to work on his equipment during the practice days. He is currently playing the new AP2 irons but this week decided to switch his longer irons to the new AP1 model in order to produce a higher ball flight. He loved the look, feel and added forgiveness offered by the AP1 and has replaced his #3 & #4 iron for this weeks event - even Tour professionals appreciate forgiveness!!! In addition to new long irons Kenneth was also experimenting with a new Scotty Cameron Newport Buttonback during practice. However, after much deliberation he decided to stick with his Black “Tour-only” Kombi (pictured in this week’s slide-show) for the event.

Kenneth Ferrie

Model: Titleist AP1
Composition: #3 & #4 iron
Shafts: True Temper Rifle 6.5
Length: +1” (#6 Iron @ 38.50″)
Lie: 1° Flat (#6 Iron @ 61.5°)
Grips: Golf Pride Multi-Compound .600 Round Blue/Black (Std)
Swingweight: D8

Another Titleist Ambassador who will soon be making an equipment change is Argentina’s Tano Goya. We mentioned in last week’s Blog that Tano had paid a visit to the Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) in California during the off-season and he clearly found this a hugely valuable experience; so much so that he is planning to make the trip to TPI on an annual basis. After working with the team at TPI to analyse his game Tano feels that he needs a stronger ball flight from his irons. With this in mind Tano is looking to move away from his current AP2 irons into the new Titleist MB. The traditional blade design of the MB results in a higher CG than the AP2 which should help deliver the more penetrating ball flight he requires. The irons are being assembled in our European Tour workshop back at Titleist HQ in England and will be shipped to Tano for his next event. Full specifications for the irons are are given below:

Tano Goya

Model: Titleist MB
Composition: #2 Iron & 4-PW
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold X100
Length: Std (#6 Iron @ 37.5”)
Lie: Std (#6 Iron @ 62.5°)
Lofts: 1° Strong (#6 Iron @ 30°)
Grips: Golf Pride Multi-Compound .600 Round White/Black (+1/64”)
Swingweight: D2.5

At the time of writing we are at the halfway stage in Qatar and the event is shaping up nicely with a number of big names near the top of the leaderboard. Top spot is currently being occupied by Titleist Ambassador Brett Rumford following opening rounds of 69 (-3) and 66 (-6). Brett’s second round featured a stunning finish which saw him post six birdies in his final eleven holes without a blemish on his card. On that sort of form Brett will be a hard man to beat over the course of the weekend but, that said, there are two men in close proximity that will have Brett looking over his shoulder. Titleist ball loyalist and reigning European number one Lee Westwood is just two shots off the lead at -7 with 2008 Order of Merit winner and Titleist Ambassador Robert Karlsson a further shot back at -6. The stage looks set for compelling finish to the event in Qatar and with strong Titleist representation at the top of the leaderboard we will be watching with great interest.

Next week sees the final event of the “desert swing” as we head to Dubai for the prestigious Dubai Desert Classic. Titleist Ambassador Rory McIlroy claimed his maiden European Tour victory at this event 12 months ago and will be keen to defend his title. We will be blogging from the Emirates course at the same time next week.

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