Steve Palmer's Qatar Masters predictions & free golf betting tips

When to bet on the Qatar Masters 

By 3.15am on Thursday

It's also worth noting that Kwiff are offering a £30 free bet when new customers bet £10 on golf 

Where can I watch the Qatar Masters

Live on Sky Sports Main Event and Golf from 5.30am on Thursday

Steve Palmer's Qatar Masters predictions

Frederic Lacroix
3pts each-way 30-1 bet365

Tom McKibbin
3pts each-way 22-1 BoyleSports

Sean Crocker
1pt each-way 45-1 Coral, Ladbrokes

New customers can get a £30 free bet when they bet on the Qatar Masters with Kwiff

Steve Palmer's Qatar Masters preview

Rasmus Hojgaard will tee off as a short-priced favourite in the Middle East again on Thursday, but punters backing the Dane must be worried about him running out of mental energy. This is his fifth consecutive week competing on the DP World Tour.

Hojgaard is a class act with the ability to triumph in a low-grade Qatar Masters, but he was ill at the start of last week's Bahrain Championship, having picked up a bug over the weekend of the Ras al Khaimah Championship. He battled to eighth place, but does not seem to represent great value this week as he completes his long Middle East mission.

Steve Palmer's top tip

Frederic Lacroix 30-1

A maiden DP World Tour title may be coming for improving Frenchman Frederic Lacroix at Doha GC on Sunday. The Parisian has been in rock-solid form and a breakthrough appears imminent.

Lacroix's form figures from his last nine tournaments – five on the Challenge Tour and four on the DP World Tour – are 15-8-6-13-3-17-5-3-4. That is nine top-20 finishes, six top tens and four top fives. He has hardly put a foot wrong, hitting his ball long and straight, and that ultra-consistent ball-striking should mean a strong Qatar campaign.

Lacroix finished third in the Ras al Khaimah Championship, then fourth in Bahrain on Sunday and is loving his Middle East adventure. He won three times on the Alps Tour in 2019, was a regular on Challenge Tour leaderboards, and at the age of 28 appears to have settled into an effective DP World Tour title contender.

Lacroix was in poor form when he made his Doha debut in 2022, his only previous visit. A 78 on a windy first day was followed by a Friday 70 and a missed cut. Two years later he makes his Doha return with confidence coursing through his veins.

Next best bet

Tom McKibbin 22-1

Another player who has made a rock-solid start to the DP World Tour season is Tom McKibbin, who finished 25th in the Dubai Invitational, 14th in the Dubai Desert Classic and 16th in Ras al Khaimah. He has been suffering with a cold putter, but his long-game has been in superb condition. He has signed for Callaway and has been hitting his new clubs with authority.

When a few putts start to drop for McKibbin, a second DPWT title should arrive. The 21-year-old, who turned professional at the age of 18, has long been touted as a potential superstar by Rory McIlroy and Padraig Harrington.

McKibbin won the European Open last June and his second-best result of 2023 was ninth place on his Qatar Masters debut in Doha. The Northern Irishman can handle the breezy start to this event and has the length to make merry over a lower-scoring weekend.

Other selection

Sean Crocker 45-1

American ace Sean Crocker possesses the long-game class to handle the windy start to this event and also the length to attack over the weekend. He started this year brightly with sixth place in the Dubai Invitational, then missed the cut in the Desert Classic at an Emirates track he despises. Last week's share of 16th place in Bahrain was a timely return to form.

Crocker opened and closed with a 68 in Bahrain – he was bogey-free on Sunday – and he has arrived in Qatar with confidence. A second DPWT title seems entirely feasible.

Crocker was 420th in the world rankings and an inexperienced maiden when making his Doha debut in 2018, but rounds of 67, 68 and 67 meant he was third going into the final round, before understandably fading on the Sunday. That liking for the track was confirmed by ninth place in last year's Qatar Masters.

Crocker, fifth in the 2018 Challenge Tour Grand Final in Ras al Khaimah, eighth in the 2021 Dubai Championship and 12th in the 2021 Saudi International, often enjoys his desert missions.

Course guide for the Qatar Masters

• Course Doha Golf Club, Doha, Qatar
• Prize money $2.5m ($425,000 to the winner)
• Length 7,475 yards
• Par 72 – four par fives, ten par fours, four par threes
• Field 132 The cut Top 65 and ties qualify for round three
• Highest-ranked players in field (world ranking in brackets) Rasmus Hojgaard (68), Thriston Lawrence (81), Keita Nakajima (95), Zander Lombard (100), Yannik Paul (101)
• Course records - 72 holes 268 Paul Lawrie (1999), Adam Scott (2008); 18 holes 61 Adam Scott (2008)
• Course winners taking part Darren Fichardt, Alvaro Quiros, Chris Wood, Jeunghun Wang, Eddie Pepperell, Ewen Ferguson
• When to bet By 3.15am on Thursday
• When to watch Live on Sky Sports Main Event and Golf from 5.30am on Thursday
• Time difference Qatar is three hours ahead of the UK and Ireland
• Last week – Bahrain Championship 1 D Frittelli (150-1), T2 Z Lombard (20-1), J Svensson (90-1), T4 F Lacroix (33-1), O Strydom (500-1), T6 A Cockerill (70-1), S Soderberg (22-1), T8 J Girrbach (500-1), J Guerrier (60-1), R Hojgaard (9-1), N Norgaard (66-1)
• Course type Desert
• Course overview Doha has been the traditional home of the Qatar Masters, staging the inaugural edition in 1998 and every year until 2020 when Education City Golf Club took over for two years. Doha resumed hosting duties in 2022 for a windy event which produced the worst winning total in the tournament's history at seven under par. The Qatar Masters has been played in either January, February or March every year, so last year's late October gathering was unusual. The weather is crucial at Doha, an exposed track which can be bullied by big-hitters under calm skies, but becomes much more testing in a breeze
• The story of last year Sami Valimaki beat Jorge Campillo in a playoff for his second DPWT title
• Weather forecast Sunny and warm throughout. Moderate breezes are forecast for the first two rounds before a calm weekend
• Type of player suited to the challenge The challenge seems set to change at the halfway point of the tournament, with calm replacing wind, so all-round quality is required. Accuracy and control to make the cut, followed by power and the ability to attack over the weekend
• Key attribute Power

Steve Palmer's Qatar Masters key stat

Three of the last five Doha winners were making their course debut

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Kwiff golf Qatar Masters betting sign-up offer: terms and conditions

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• Only original odds count toward the promotion. Supercharged odds do not count towards the promotion.
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• Visit Kwiff for additional T&Cs
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