Louis Oosthuizen carries an enviable reputation on the professional tour. Wherever he plays his first event of the year, the 33-year-old invariably goes on to win that tournament. This has happened on four occasions in the last five seasons.
The 2016 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters is, incidentally, the world No. 18’s first event of the year, and true to his reputation he was sitting pretty at the top after the first round, thanks to an unblemished 65 on a windy Doha Golf Club course yesterday.
Sharing the top spot with the South African was another 33-year-old, Pablo Larrazabal of Spain, the world No. 136 too returning a flawless 65.
A shot off the lead, at six-under, sit Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts, Bjorn Akesson of Sweden and England’s Andrew Johnston. Eight players—Spain’s Rafa Cabrera-Bello, George Coetzee of South Africa, Portugal’s Ricardo Gouveia, Swede Kristoffer Broberg, Tommy Fleetwood of England, Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen, Gregory Bourdy of France and two-time Qatar Masters champion Paul Lawrie of Scotland—were a further shot back at five-under.
Oosthuizen, who narrowly missed out on the title here in 2009, kept his ‘fast starter’ reputation intact with a sizzling round. He opened with back-to-back birdies after starting from the 10th, and had further gains on the 16th and 18th. The trend continued on the return with birdies on the first, sixth and ninth capping a good day at the office for him.
Oosthuizen, playing his first event of the season after an eight-week break, said he could not have asked for a better opening-day start. “The best thing is I managed to stay bogey-free. There were a couple of occasions where it looked like I was going to make bogeys, but I managed to recover. Overall, I think I played pretty solid today,” he said after the day’s play.
He added that he enjoys playing in the wind. “I like playing in windy conditions, and I think there was a fair bit of it on the course today. But there’s forecast of even stronger winds for the weekend rounds, and then it can get really difficult.”
Oosthuizen also likes the DGC course, which he says suits his style of play. “In fact, I like playing in the desert. I always play well around here, and I particularly like this course. I like hitting long, and this course gives you plenty of opportunity thanks to its long and wide fairways.”
There were no bogeys on Larrazabal’s card either. The Spaniard too opened with back-to-back birdies and, after a run of five straight pars, made two more on the eighth and ninth to turn in at 32. He made it three in a row on the 10th and further birdies on the 12th and 16th ensured he stays on track for what could be second win in the Gulf following his 2014 victory at the Abu Dhabi Championship.
“Yeah, feel happy with my round today. I think I hit really well. Barring one, on the 13th, I hit 17 greens in regulation, which is great under these conditions. I put myself in a lot of birdie chances and that was the key today. This course is always challenging, but today I think the wind wasn’t that bad. Let’s hope I manage to play this way over the next three days,” said Larrazabal, who won his fourth European Tour title last year at the BMW International Open in Germany.
The big-hitting Colsaerts, one of the heroes of Europe’s victory at the 2012 Ryder Cup, added to his birdies on the par-five first, ninth, 10th and 18th with further gains on the sixth and 14th for a six-under 66.
Coetzee, who is on a comeback trail after breaking his ankle while surfing last year, aggregates an impressive 42-under stat in Doha, having come close to winning the title the last three years before fading away in the final round. He improved that aggregate to 47 yesterday with a 67. Two bogeys spoiled what could have been a great day for the South African, who hit seven birdies.
“I’ve always enjoyed playing on this course. It feels nice to come here after a long holiday and post a good number. Hopefully it will be a good week. Just those couple of loose shots out there, but otherwise I am happy with my play. I actually feel like I’m playing better than I did before. I did make some minor changes to my swing just before the ankle injury, and I think it is working fine,” said Coetzee.
Lawrie, a two-time champion in Doha, opened with a bogey but recovered well, sinking six birdies on the sixth, seventh and ninth, and on the 10th, 16th and 17th on the return. “Overall happy,” said the 47-year-old Scot, who won here in 1999 and 2012. “I think I recovered well after that bogey start. I missed a couple of putts, but otherwise it was a good day.”
England’s 23-year-old Callum Shinkwin, playing just his 10th European Tour event, set the early pace in the morning as he turned in 30 thanks to a run of four birdies from the 15th, before a double bogey on the second slowed his progress. He recovered by picking a shot back up on the fourth before bogeying the ninth to sit at four-under. Playing partner Robert Rock was also four-under alongside Dubai-based Scot Clarke Lutton.
Thai veteran Thongchai Jaidee and 2005 champion Ernie Els of South Africa, who hit 18 greens in regulation, played alongside Oosthuizen and they both also signed for 68s along with Els’ compatriot Trevor Immelman and Michael Hoey of Northern Ireland.

LEADING Round I SCORES
65: Pablo Larrazábal (ESP), Louis Oosthuizen (RSA)
66: Bjorn Akesson (SWE), Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL), Andrew Johnston (ENG)
67: Tommy Fleetwood (ENG), Ricardo Gouveia (POR), Paul Lawrie (SCO), Rafael Cabrera (ESP), Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN), Grégory Bourdy (FRA), Kristoffer Broberg (SWE), George Coetzee (RSA)
68: Trevor Immelman (RSA), Ernie Els (RSA), Lucas Bjerregaard (DEN), Bernd Wiesberger (AUT), Brett Rumford (AUS), Clarke Lutton (SCO), Thongchai Jaidee (THA), Callum Shinkwin (ENG), Robert Rock (ENG), Michael Hoey (NIR)
69: Ben Evans (ENG), Lee Slattery (ENG), Kiradech Aphibarnrat (THA), Rhys Davies (WAL), Marcus Fraser (AUS), Jorge Campillo (ESP), Thomas Bjorn (DEN), Roope Kakko (FIN), Marcel Siem (GER), Maximilian Kieffer (GER), Johan Carlsson (SWE), Alexander Norén (SWE), Jens Fahrbring (SWE)
70: Pelle Edberg (SWE), Branden Grace (RSA), Joost Luiten (NED), Soren Kjeldsen (DEN), Álvaro Quirós (ESP), Sergio García (ESP), Wade Ormsby (AUS), Nathan Holman (AUS), James Morrison (ENG)
71: Daniel Brooks (ENG), Tyrrell Hatton (ENG), Bradley Dredge (WAL), Peter Uihlein (USA), David Lipsky (USA), Richie Ramsay (SCO), David Drysdale (SCO), Ignacio Elvira (ESP), Joachim Hansen (DEN), Mikko Ilonen (FIN), Benjamin Hébert (FRA), Grégory Havret (FRA), Edouard Espana (FRA), Niclas Fasth (SWE), Haydn Porteous (RSA), Magnus Carlsson (SWE)
72: Joakim Lagergren (SWE), Trevor Fisher (RSA), Brandon Stone (RSA), Hennie Otto (RSA), Paul McGinley (IRL), Michaël Lorenzo-Vera (FRA), Julien Quesne (FRA), Raphaël Jacquelin (FRA), Mikko Korhonen (FIN), Jin Cheng (CHN), Eduardo De La Riva (ESP), Borja Virto (ESP), Andrew Dodt (AUS), Scott Hend (AUS), Stephen Gallacher (SCO), Prom Meesawat (THA), Richard Bland (ENG), Oliver Wilson (ENG)

Round 2 tee times
Tee   Time   Players
1   06:30   Borja Virto Astudillo, Tyrrell Hatton, Scott Jamieson
1   06:40   James Morrison, Mikko Ilonen, Grégory Bourdy
1   06:50   Roope Kakko, Brett Rumford, Richie Ramsay
1   07:00   Thorbjørn Olesen, Fabrizio Zanotti, Marc Warren
1   07:10   Graeme Storm, Raphaël Jacquelin, Gary Stal
1   07:20   Scott Hend, Paul McGinley, Robert Dinwiddie
1   07:30   Jin Jeong, Oliver Wilson, Matteo Manassero
1   07:40   Morten Ørum Madsen, Jamie McLeary, David Drysdale
1   07:50   Jens Fahrbring, Renato Paratore, Andrew Johnston
1   08:00   Hennie Otto, Joakim Lagergren, Nacho Elvira
1   08:10   Björn Akesson, Edouard Espana, Ali al-Shahrani (AM)
10   06:30   Alex Noren, Julien Quesne, Chris Paisley
10   06:40   Lee Slattery, David Lipsky, Cheng Jin (AM)
10   06:50   Marcus fraser, Prom Meesawat, Richard Bland

Tee   Time   Players
10   07:00   Paul Lawrie, Robert karlsson, John Daly
10   07:10   Thomas Bjorn, Brandon Stone, Lucas Bjerregaard
10   07:20   Bernd Wiesberger, Haydn Porteous, Thomas Pieters
10   07:30   Matthew Fitzpatrick, Branden Grace, Sergio Garcia
10   07:40   Peter Hanson, Alejandro Canizares, Joost Luiten
10   07:50   Bradley Dredge, Eddie Pepperell, Mike Weir
10   08:00   Ali Saleh al-Kaabi (AM), James Busby
10   08:10   Oliver Fisher, Romain Wattel, Pelle Edberg
1   10:50   Callum Shinkwin, Robert Rock, Ulrich Van Den Berg
1   11:00   Peter Uihlein, Alexander Levy, Simon Khan
1   11:10   Eduardo De La Riva, Gary Boyd, Bryson DeChambeau (AM)
1   11:20   Darren Fichardt, Trevor Immelman, Alvaro Quiros
1   11:30   Kristoffer Broberg, Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Tommy Fleetwood
1   11:40   Soren Kjeldsen, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Chris Wood

Tee   Time   Players
1   11:50   Ernie Els, Louis Oosthuizen, Thongchai jaidee   
1   12:00   David Howell, Marcel Siem, Nathan Holman
1   12:10   Magnus A Carlsson, Maximilian Kieffer, Trevor Fisher Jnr
1   12:20   Michael Hoey, Ben Evans, Daniel Brooks
10   10:50   Mike Lorenzo-Vera, Matthew Baldwin, Joachim B. Hansen
10   11:00   Sebastien Gros, Clarke Lutton, Andrew McArthur
10   11:10   Pablo Larrazabal, Ashun Wu, Stephen Gallacher
10   11:20   Dominic Foos, Wade Ormsby, Johan Carlsson
10   11:30   Simon Dyson, Jorge Campillo, John Parry
10   11:40   Seve Benson, Ricardo Gouveia, Benjamin Hebert
10   11:50   George Coetzee, Steve Webster, Andrew Dodt
10   12:00   Rhys Davies, Nicolas Colsaerts, Grégory Havret
10   12:10   Craig Lee, Niclas Fasth, Felipe Aguilar
10   12:20   Mikko Korhonen, Thomas Linard, Rayhan Thomas (AM)