Pepperell breaks through in Qatar, Lawrie names and shames slow players

So what happened at the Qatar Masters?

On his 129th European Tour start Eddie Pepperell claimed his first win on the European Tour after holding off Oli Fisher in Doha.

Pepperell only had four bogeys all week, including a brilliant one on Saturday (see Moments of the Week below), and a bounce-back birdie at 16 proved to be the difference.

In the end Fisher, who reached the turn in three over, had an eight-foot putt on the last for a sixth birdie on the bounce and to take it into extra holes but it slipped by. Pepperell tapped in for a 70 to make it the third win by an Englishman this season.

Sweden’s Marcus Kinhult was third while Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, who came through Q School, was in a share of fourth.

Pepperell lost his card in 2016 when he missed the cut in Portugal after driving out of bounds on his last hole but, after regaining it at Q School, he enjoyed a brilliant 2017 year with seven top 10s.

For Fisher it was a first top three since the 2014 Africa Open.

Best Quote

“When Oli was over his putt it ran through my mind that I had a play-off before and lost it. I won one on the Challenge Tour when Jeppe Huldahl holes a good putt on the last to force a play-off and I thought, ‘this is going to a play-off here’. And then when Oli missed I thought ‘my parents are going to be going mental’ so there was a lot going on mentally before that tap-in” – Eddie Pepperell

Talking Point

Not a week goes by without the subject of slow play coming up. Everyone knows who the slow coaches are but nobody is willing to point the finger.

Until now..

Two-time Qatar champion Paul Lawrie tells it like it is and he wasn’t holding back after a slow day on Friday.

Getting pretty fed up playing with guys who cheat the system by playing as slow as they want until referee comes then hit it on the run to make sure they don't get penalised then as soon as ref gone its back to taking forever again. We need a better system

— Paul Lawrie (@PaulLawriegolf) February 23, 2018

And if you were wondering if he was talking about Aaron Rai or Marcel Schneider then this reply was pretty clear.

Rai. His behaviour today was unacceptable , never ready to play and took forever before ref arrived then all of a sudden he was ready and hitting it in 20 seconds when he was on the clock. Very poor but no surprise https://t.co/VQU5kwk4yu

— Paul Lawrie (@PaulLawriegolf) February 23, 2018

And if Max Kieffer thought he had got away with it last week in Oman then he was in for a surprise..

Aaron Rai this week max keiffer last week https://t.co/J9zY400y4U

— Paul Lawrie (@PaulLawriegolf) February 23, 2018

When asked on Twitter to name and shame some of the bigger names the Scot had this to say: “Bernhard langer been playing the system for years, most weeks at least half the field don’t play within the allotted time, I only mentioned the two players cos I’ve played last two weeks with them”

Before turning his attentions on the current crop of superstars..

Speith , Jason day , Cabrera bello , Kevin na , jb Holmes but to many to menotion them all btw https://t.co/Z4CvJfIWcF

— Paul Lawrie (@PaulLawriegolf) February 24, 2018

And then adding: “Sorry I forgot about Harrington but he has said that himself.”

Lawrie also had this to say about the Chinese teenager Tianlang Guan who was penalised for slow play at the Masters which was as revealing as it was depressing: “He got penalised cos he didn’t know how to cheat the system and kept playing slowly even when the referee was timing him.”

Moments of the Week

"I probably owe that hole something!" ?

Pepperell and hole 12 had an interesting relationship this week… pic.twitter.com/GxJRSkpxfV

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) February 25, 2018

You'll never see another bogey like this all season…#QatarMasters pic.twitter.com/i3nL0jObH5

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) February 24, 2018

Bellissimo Renato, bellissimo ????#QatarMasters pic.twitter.com/RBWsydDc9Z

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) February 25, 2018

Oli Fisher's finish: Birdie 15 – Birdie 16 – Birdie 17 – Birdie 18.

That's how you sign for a 6️⃣5️⃣. pic.twitter.com/pLdGxGPbc7

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) February 24, 2018

Best Tweets

Not that I don’t appreciate the hotel making a cake for me, I just wanted to recreate my tee shot off 15 today. pic.twitter.com/QER6lPVPw5

— Eddie Pepperell (@PepperellEddie) February 25, 2018

????@PepperellEddie pic.twitter.com/TNcG7vehuj

— Joe Pepperell (@joepep_pga) February 25, 2018

? Reporter: "Now you've won will you get a hat sponsor?"

? Pepperell: "Why? How much money have you got? Five pounds and it's yours!" pic.twitter.com/CskmcrrzEg

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) February 25, 2018

Best Stats

Most 3-woods hit from the tee this week:

Pepperell 34
Cho 19
Waring 18
Van Rooyen 15
Dredge 14

➡️ There's more than one way to play golf. pic.twitter.com/UAPqrO6S6B

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) February 25, 2018

This seems to be a week of firsts…@PepperellEddie gets his 1st win on @EuropeanTour @RhysEnoch1 gets his 1st win on @Sunshine_Tour @bencampbell86 gets his 1st win on @PGAofAustralia

Bodes well for guys like List, Fleetwood, Lovemark, Noren, etc. on @PGATOUR… ?

— Nosferatu (@VC606) February 25, 2018