The DP World Tour concludes its Middle East swing with the Qatar Masters and frankly, after last week's event in Bahrain, I don't mind the upcoming week off between this event and the Kenya Open.

Following Ivan Cantero for a third week running paid off as he placed just as he had seven days earlier, but the powerful youngster missed the play-off by a single shot after making bogey at the last following a few missed chances late on. That play-off only took place because Pablo Larrazabal, a confident pre-final round selection at a generous 15/2, three-putted the 18th hole when he had two putts for the title.

Sure enough, Larrazabal then lost the play-off to a brilliant birdie from Laurie Canter, selected last time at 66/1 but left out in this weaker event at 20s. Canter, who I've followed pretty religiously since 2020 and who was unluckily beaten by rank outsider Ross McGowan when we were on at a nice price in Italy that year, has now won twice since, delivering on long-held promise. Both times, we happened to be on the runner-up.

I won't hold it against a fabulous player and isn't it great to see someone like him work it all out in their 30s. This game is colourful and never straightforward. For every 20-something superstar there's someone trying to put it all together. And for every nervous maiden who loses their grip on a tournament on the 18th hole, there's a proven, prolific veteran like Larrazabal to show that it really can happen to anyone.

Onto Doha then and the formula here used to be relatively straightforward. Time and again down the years, winners were Open champions or contenders or at the very least players who've shown top-level form on links courses in the UK and Ireland, the logic being that the wind usually blows here and that places an emphasis on quality approach play and a tidy short-game, two must-haves in most Open Championships.

Chris Wood, Branden Grace, Eddie Pepperell, Paul Lawrie, Sergio Garcia, Thomas Bjorn, Henrik Stenson – all are examples of this connection. But you see it too through those who almost won in Qatar, like former Amateur Championship winner Mikko Ilonen, Scottish Open winner Rafa Cabrera Bello, Dunhill Links pair Thorbjorn Olesen and Oliver Wilson, and St Andrews specialist Louis Oosthuizen.

The trouble is that the DP World Tour is undeniably weaker than it used to be and while that has helped produce so many thrilling finishes that we've now come to expect the unexpected, it means we're without much major championship form to go on. Instead, some of the best links clues hide beneath the surface, such as the fact that former champion Ewen Ferguson won the Boys' Amateur at Hoylake back in 2013.

In general I'd say this is less about quality driving than the other three desert courses we've been to lately. There are still four par-fives and a now customary driveable par-four to go at, but everyone in the field can reach the 16th while the ninth, sadly, is seldom played from a forward tee. That means everyone is laying up and with the shallow, raised 10th green especially hard to hit in two, it is more about wedges than the big stick.

Accepting that he can be a little difficult to win with, JORDAN SMITH does look to hold an outstanding chance in what is the weakest of this opening run of DP World Tour events.

With Patrick Reed and David Puig both out and the only Olesen in this field named Jacob not Thorbjorn, this really isn't strong and the two most likely contenders are Smith and last week's winner, Canter.

Both are somewhat similar in the way they go about things, generally pounding greens and left to hope the putter is warm enough, but it's Smith who boasts the strongest record at Doha thanks to a pair of top-six finishes in five visits so far.

As you might expect, all have been powered by his long-game and when he putted to just a decent standard (36th) on his last visit he had a chance to win, whereas the year before his ball-striking was actually a little better only for a hopeless week on and around the greens to result in a missed cut.