Commercial Bank Qatar Masters 2015: Daily Leaderboard Analysis, Highlights, More
South Africa's Branden Grace birdied the 18th for a final round 66 at the 2015 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters on Saturday to take a phenomenal tournament win.
It was a nail-biting finish which saw Scotland's Marc Warren—last out on course—in with a chance of tying for the lead on 19 under but failing to birdie the 18th himself.
On a truly thrilling final day at Doha Golf Club, Grace opened up a two-shot lead only to be caught by Warren, but a fine third shot on the last eventually proved the difference for the South African.
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Read on for a day-by-day recap of a brilliant tournament.
Day 4 Recap
Four men were tied for the lead overnight in Qatar with a whole host still in with a genuine chance of victory as Saturday's final day got under way.
It was impossible to call a winner for much of the afternoon until Grace and Warren finally opened up a gap to the rest of the field as they reached the closing holes.
With Grace in the penultimate group and Warren behind, the South African had to sit and watch to see if he would be joined at the top of the leaderboard, but the Scot could not produce the required birdie four.
Here is a look at the final leaderboard from Doha:
| Position | Player | Overall | Round 4 Score |
| 1 | Branden Grace | -19 | 66 |
| 2 | Marc Warren | -18 | 67 |
| 3 | Bernd Wiesberger | -17 | 68 |
| 4 | Eddie Pepperell | -16 | 67 |
| T5 | Byeong-hun An | -15 | 65 |
| T5 | Gregory Bourdy | -15 | 65 |
| T5 | Emiliano Grillo | -15 | 70 |
| 8 | Alejandro Canizares | -14 | 69 |
| 9 | Alexander Noren | -13 | 65 |
| T10 | Benjamin Hebert | -12 | 67 |
For the full leaderboard and video highlights visit EuropeanTour.com
Grace birdied the first and then strung together 10 consecutive pars as he failed to make significant moves early on the final day.
However, birdies on the 12th and 14th preceded an eagle two on the 16th after a stunning tee shot to the short par four left a putt of about five feet which he duly sunk, per the European Tour:
Warren drew back level with Grace with birdies on 16 and 17 only for the South African to put his third on 18 within a few feet and he tapped in for a four.
For Warren, in a similarly played hole, he left himself a much longer putt for the necessary birdie and he failed to produce the fireworks required, and Grace claimed a deserved victory.
Englishman Eddie Pepperell added a 67 to his 65 from Saturday to finish in fourth place on 16 under, the 24-year-old coming home in a hugely impressive 32.
One of the overnight leaders, Austrian Bernd Wiesberger, recovered from two bogeys in the opening three holes to shoot a 68 and finish in third on 17 under.
Gregory Bourdy and An Byeong-hun both made valiant bids for the win with impressive rounds of 65 on the last day, but they both finished four shots back on 15 under.
The Frenchman's round included four consecutive front-nine birdies from the fourth while An fired an eagle at the par-five 10th, per the European Tour:
Justin Rose finished the tournament well with a bogey-less round of 68 to finish on 10 under in a week when he never quite hit top gear.
Meanwhile, defending champion Sergio Garcia bounced back from a disastrous 77 on Friday to card a 69 and finish on four under.
A high-quality tournament finished in brilliant fashion in Qatar and Grace was a deserved winner after a consistently impressive week's play and a phenomenal final round.
Day 3 Recap
Four players are tied for the lead after the third day of action in the Qatar Masters as Marc Warren, Branden Grace, Bernd Wiesberger and Emiliano Grillo all sit on 13 under par after good showings on Friday.
Three players sit on 11 under, South Africa's George Coetzee and Spain's Alejandro Canizares joining England's Eddie Pepperell who shot the round of the day with a seven-under par 65.
Here is what the leaderboard looks like after Friday's proceedings:
| Position | Player | Overall | Round 3 Score |
| T1 | Marc Warren | -13 | 67 |
| T1 | Emiliano Grillo | -13 | 67 |
| T1 | Branden Grace | -13 | 68 |
| T1 | Bernd Wiesberger | -13 | 68 |
| T5 | Eddie Pepperell | -11 | 65 |
| T5 | Alejandro Canizares | -11 | 68 |
| T5 | George Coetzee | -11 | 70 |
| 8 | Oliver Fisher | -9 | 69 |
| T9 | Johan Carlsson | -8 | 69 |
| T9 | Gregory Bourdy | -8 | 70 |
For the full leaderboard and video highlights visit EuropeanTour.com
It was a day tinged with sadness in Qatar after the death of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, AP's Rob Harris reporting the recognition shown by the competition.
However, play continued and there was some fantastic golf on show, Scotland's Warren bogeying just the 14th in a round that included six birdies.
Grace recovered from back-to-back dropped shots on the third and fourth to card a four-under 68, finishing with a deserved four on the par-five 18th after a gutsy approach shot.
Grillo's round was a bogey-less affair with five birdies while Austrian Wiesberger recovered well from a bogey on the forgiving 16th, per the European Tour, to bounce back on the 18th with a four:
Pepperell's round got off to a flying start as he birdied three of the opening four holes before handing one back on the ninth.
Just one more dropped shot on the back nine was cancelled out with interest by six more birdies as the youngster shot up the leaderboard the day after his 24th birthday, per European Tour:
Ernie Els shot a round of 70 to move to seven under while Justin Rose sits one shot further back having carded a three-under 69 on Friday.
It was tough going for defending champion Sergio Garcia, the Spaniard going round in 77 after a disastrous back nine—which included one double and one triple bogey—and he sits way off the pace on one under par.
It is set to be a cracker of a final day with so many players bunched up towards the top of the leaderboard and it is almost impossible to call a winner following Friday's action.
Day 2 Recap
There’s a three-way tie atop of the leaderboard going into the final two days of the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, as South African duo George Coetzee and Branden Grace are joined by Bernd Wiesberger on an overall score of nine-under par.
Oliver Fisher led the way going into Day 2 after an excellent opening round of seven-under par, but he shot a one-over par 73 to push him back to six-under for the tournament.
Marc Warren matched Fisher’s opening score to haul himself into contention going into the weekend. The Scot’s 65 leaves him one behind the leading group alongside Emiliano Grillo and Byeong-hun An, who both backed up 67s from Day 1 with solid rounds of 69.
Here’s a look at how the leaderboard is shaping up going into the weekend:
| T1. | George Coetzee | -9 | 67 |
| T1. | Branden Grace | -9 | 68 |
| T1. | Bernd Wiesberger | -9 | 66 |
| T4. | Emiliano Grillo | -8 | 69 |
| T4. | Byeong-Hun An | -8 | 69 |
| T4. | Marc Warren | -8 | 65 |
| T7. | Darren Fichardt | -7 | 70 |
| T7. | Richard Green | -7 | 67 |
| T7. | Alejandro Canizares | -7 | 70 |
It was an intriguing day in Qatar as the men in contention did their utmost to position themselves for the weekend. The leading trio all played well during the day, but the standout man of the front runners was Wiesberger.
The Austrian put together an excellent round of 66 to move to the top of the leaderboard and admitted on Twitter he was delighted to put himself in a great spot with two days left to play:
Warren was arguably the star man on course however. The Scot cut a serene figure throughout his round of 65, shooting an eagle and seven birdies on his way to an overall score of eight-under at the mid-point.
Encouragingly for Warren, there is room for improvement going into the weekend too. His card was blemished by bogeys at Hole 3 and Hole 17; if he’d avoided the latter the Scot would have taken a share of the lead into the final day.
While the golf on show was engrossing, there were plenty of bizarre incidents occurring out on the course on Day 2. The first saw former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel hit his drive into a palm tree and with the help of an iPad, one spectator decided to bag himself a souvenir, per the European Tour Twitter account:
"The story of @CA_Schwartzel’s ball, a palm tree, an iPad and one lucky kid! http://t.co/68vbzGyTag
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) January 22, 2015"
There was also this moment from Grace, where he lost out on the outright lead because his putt struck the ball marker of Andy Sullivan:
It wasn’t something that affected the latter however. Sullivan was looking unlikely to make the cut for the weekend’s play, but after a difficult start to the day he turned on the style to shoot 30 on the back nine and will now fancy his chances of getting among the top players come Saturday afternoon:
We're looking set for a tight finish, with a host of players bunched together in the upper reaches of the leaderboard. The vast majority of those in contention know what's required to win at the highest level and subsequently, it's going to take a very special round to see one player break away from the chasing pack.
Day 1 Recap
Englishman Oliver Fisher fired himself to the top of the 2015 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters leaderboard during Wednesday's opening round, carding a seven-under 65 in Doha.
The European Tour's official Twitter account provided confirmation of Fisher's lead:
Henrik Stenson, Justin Rose and defending champion Sergio Garcia were among the top names competing at this year's event, but Fisher's quality showing placed him one shot clear of Rafa Cabrera-Bello after the first 18.
Here's a look at the upper echelons of the leaderboard (Be sure to check the full rundown on the European Tour's website):
| 1 | Oliver Fisher | -7 |
| 2 | Rafa Cabrera-Bello | -6 |
| T3 | Mark Foster | -5 |
| T3 | Alejandro Canizares | -5 |
| T3 | Branden Grace | -5 |
| T3 | Moritz Lampert | -5 |
| T3 | Emiliano Grillo | -5 |
| T3 | Paul Lawrie | -5 |
| T3 | Alex Noren | -5 |
| T3 | An Byeong-hun | -5 |
| T3 | Ernie Els | -5 |
| T3 | Darren Fichardt | -5 |
| T3 | Kristoffer Broberg | -5 |
Fisher started in confident style with a birdie on the 10th. He also gained a shot on 12 before hitting his only bogey of the day on 13, but this blip didn't stop the 26-year-old quickly finding his rhythm in the Arab Peninsula.
The Chingford-born player sunk three consecutive birdies to enter the halfway stage four under, a score that provided the springboard to success later in the day. Fisher notched a further trio of birdies on his way back to the clubhouse, moving one clear of Cabrera-Bello, who was flawless en route to a six-under 66.
As highlighted by the tournament's social media feed, Fisher established his lead on eight:
An 11-strong pack of players finished the day on five under, with Mark Foster, Alejandro Canizares, Paul Lawrie, Alex Noren and Ernie Els progressing without a bogey to their name. Els was particularly pleased, as noted on Twitter:
Lawrie posted one of the most precise shots of the day, finding a mouthwatering line on his final drive:
A number of potential candidates for victory failed to perform, however. Rose's bogey on 11 was typical of a tricky day, leaving him tied 14th on four under. Garcia rests a shot further back—despite grabbing a birdie with his last stroke—while things were even worse for Stenson.
The likeable Swede posted four birdies and two bogeys in a frustrating opening round by his standards. He will be confident of improving on his two-under 70 score as the competition progresses, though, and he will remain optimistic that he can make ground on the current leader.
Fisher's only European Tour win came back in 2011 when he claimed the Czech Open prize. He needs to continue gaining momentum with another assertive display on Thursday, particularly as such a large gaggle of players are within touching distance of his score.
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