Li Haotong claims Commercial Bank Qatar Masters title on DP World Tour

Li Haotong claimed his fourth DP World Tour title as he birdied the final hole to win the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters by one stroke.

The Chinese carded a three under par closing round of 69 at Doha Golf Club to sign for a 16 under par total, one shot ahead of last year’s HotelPlanner Tour Number One Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen.

The 29-year-old started the day with a two-stroke lead, which he doubled with birdies on the first two holes. He then cancelled out bogeys on the eighth and 11th holes with gains on the ninth and 12th, but Neergaard-Petersen had made his move and was six under par through 15 holes.

The Dane, who represented Continental Europe at the Team Cup last month, took the outright lead after his seventh gain of the day at the 16th as Li bogeyed the 15th hole. Momentum swung immediately back in Li’s favour, however, as Neergaard-Petersen’s par putt on the 17th stayed above ground and Li birdied the short par four 16th after driving the green to move ahead on 15 under par.

Neergaard-Petersen birdied the last to sit in the clubhouse on 15 under after recording the lowest round of the day, a seven under par 65, but Li made up and down from a greenside bunker on the 18th, holing his birdie putt from 15 feet for a 16 under par total and his first victory since the 2022 BMW International Open.

Brandon Robinson Thompson recorded his best DP World Tour result as he finished third on 13 under par and 2021 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters champion Antoine Rozner carded a four under par final round of 68 to finish fourth.

"I feel great," said Li. "It’s an emotional one. Seems like everyone is quite emotional. I’ve been playing really well. I handled my emotions quite nicely, especially on that back nine. It was quite tough for me and those bogeys were hard to swallow. But I kept telling myself I was still in it here and I just keep hitting my shots. If the day was my day it would come, if not, we’d go next time.

"I actually didn’t settle my nerves like yesterday, but it helped a lot and I didn’t expect those two birdies to start. I just handled my emotions really well today.

"I thought that on 15, I knew I had to up and down to have a chance and I didn’t. But my caddie told me we’d birdie 16 and 17 so we’d be fine. Then I birdied 16 and hit a good putt on 17. On 18 I asked the cameraman what was going on, he said ‘you guys are tied’, so I needed a birdie to close out. I did what I did. I hit a perfect drive, a little bit off, which is normal, then duffed the bunker shot. Somehow when I stood on that putt I felt like it could be in, then halfway I couldn’t control it any more."

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