The International Swing reaches its midway point this week with the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters. Here are your five things to know.

Finish of the desert stretch

As has become the norm on the DP World Tour in recent seasons, the Middle East has played host to the first spell of the calendar year. After visits to Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah and most recently the Kingdom of Bahrain, the International Swing – the second of five Global Swings which form the first phase of the DP World Tour’s 2025 season – continues in Doha with the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters. This is the 28th edition of the event, which has been an ever-present on the schedule since its inaugural staging in 1998. It features a prize fund of $2.5million, with 3,500 Race to Dubai points and 1,000 Ryder Cup points available. After a one-week break next week, we head to Kenya before back-to-back events in South Africa.

2025 Race to Dubai winners on show as International Swing hits halfway

The field this week in Qatar features six of a possible eight winners from the 2025 Race to Dubai so far, with Hero Dubai Desert Classic winner Tyrrell Hatton and Alfred Dunhill Championship winner Shaun Norris not teeing it up. After winning his second DP World Tour title at the Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship last week, Laurie Canter leads the International Swing Rankings after climbing above countryman Hatton. Alejandro del Rey sits fourth following his breakthrough DP World Tour title in Ras Al Khaimah last month, while a quartet of winners from the Opening Swing will be hoping to head into the upcoming one-week break bouyed by a good showing. John Parry and Johannes Veerman occupy fifth and sixth respectively on the Race to Dubai Rankings, with recent first-time DP World Tour winners Elvis Smylie and Ryggs Johnston also riding high on the season-long standings after their successes in Australia over the opening two weeks of the campaign.

To view the entry list in full, click here.

Past champions make return

After winning the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters last year on his way to earning dual membership on the PGA TOUR for the 2025 season, Japan’s Rikuya Hoshino may not be defending his title but there are a host of past champions teeing it up this week. In total, there are eight past holders of the Mother of Pearl Trophy in action. Scotland’s Ewen Ferguson is the most recent title holder of the event on show, having claimed his maiden DP World Tour title here in 2022. Antoine Rozner and Jorge Campillo were victors at former host venue Education City Golf Club, in 2021 and 2020 respectively. France’s Rozner is making his return to DP World Tour action after plying his trade at the start of this year on the PGA TOUR. Justin Harding is another returning champion along with Eddie Pepperell, who is without full status and making his first start since challenging for victory at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open in December. Chris Wood, Alvaro Quiros and Darren Fichardt round out the rest.

Course changes

Since last year’s edition, a raft of changes have been made to the course at Doha Golf Club. Fairway lines and contours have been reshaped on every hole, with green surrounds also extended on several holes on the front nine to allow for run off areas. Modifications include the left green-side bunker at the second moved eight metres closer to the putting surface, the removal of trees down the left side of the seventh and near the 11th green, along with the planting of palm trees on the ninth, 13th and 18th. Other moves include a new championship tee at the fourth, making the fairway narrower on the par-four sixth and par-five ninth, while accuracy off the tee will also be of importance at the par-five tenth after the landing zone was made tighter as the approach area was made larger. The fairway has also been made narrower on the 18th as has the lay-up zone. The grass on the greens was changed to paspallum ‘dynasty’ species in 2021, while the fairways and rough are Bermuda.

Arab trailblazer on show alongside Middle East-based golfers

Weeks on from making history as the first Arab golfer to make the cut at a Rolex Series event, Moroccan amateur Adam Bresnu tees it up again on the DP World Tour. The 20-year-old is one of several players to receive an invite, who include Dubai-based HotelPlanner Tour member Joshua Grenville-Wood and 21-year-old English born Shergo Al Kurdi, who now represents Saudi Arabia and made his DP World Tour debut at this event in 2018. Another Englishman, Calum Fitzgerald will make his first start on the DP World Tour after winning the Qatar Open Amateur Golf Championship at Doha Golf Club last year.