The Bullseye – DraftKings European Tour GPP Preview – Qatar Masters

It was a solid start for The Bullseye last week, although we had a couple epic weekend collapses. Matthieu Pavon led after the second round before shooting +8 on the weekend, and Marcus Kinhult (6^th after two rounds) faded as well. Overall, we had six of nine guys make the cut, which wasn’t too bad.

This used to be a pretty good event, but due to scheduling changes on the PGA Tour, Europe’s top players are in Florida. Rory McIlroy, Sergio Garcia, Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Martin Kaymer, Bernd Wiesberger, and others are at the Honda Classic. Therefore, we have a fairly week field overall. That also offers opportunity, because we know more about these relatively unknown players than the average person.

This week’s venue is Doha Golf Club, which boasts a lot of the same characteristics (and course designer) that players saw last week in Abu Dhabi. This desert layout is a par-72 as well, which may give the bombers some opportunities to take advantage of the par-5s. There isn’t much rough to speak of, so driving accuracy takes a backseat to driving distance, and the emphasis will be placed on approach shots. Because it gets windy in Qatar, I’m going to take a long look at links players who have had success here. Branden Grace, a past winner here, has said that the grainier greens suit South African players well. That, plus the links-style correlation makes a lot of sense when you think about the firm, quick fairways players will see this week in Qatar.

European Tour stats are notoriously unreliable, making it difficult to really pinpoint the type of players to target. There are also an influx of Asian Tour and Sunshine Tour players this week, making the statistical analysis doubly difficult. But here’s where I’m going to focus:

• Driving Distance
• Stroke Average
• Greens in Regulation
• Birdie Average

And now on to the picks!

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