Rikuya Hoshino secured his first championship on the DP World Tour at the Qatar Masters in Doha, concluding with a total score of 274 (69 68 69 68, -14) strokes. The 27-year-old Japanese competitor from Ikabari narrowly surpassed Frenchman Ugo Coussaud, who finished in second place with 275 (-13), followed by Scott Jamieson from Scotland in third position with 276 (-12).
However, Danish golfer Rasmus Hojgaard stumbled in the final stretch, settling for sixth place with 279 (-9), behind Northern Irishman Tom McKibbin in fourth place with 276 (-12), and Spaniard Jorge Campillo in fifth place with 278 (-10).
The final round proved to be disappointing for the Italian players. Filippo Celli, the top-performing Italian for the second consecutive week, could only secure a 42nd position with 286 (71 70 69 76, -2).
During the last round, the Roman golfer shot a 76 (+4), recording two birdies, two bogeys, and two double bogeys. Guido Migliozzi from Vicenza followed behind, finishing 49th with 287 (-1). Francesco Laporta from Puglia ended up in 61st place with 289 (+1).
Hoshino’s triumph signified a significant moment as he became the first Japanese competitor to win the Qatar Masters and the fourth Japanese player to achieve victory on the DP World Tour after Isao Aoki, Hideki Matsuyama, and Ryo Hisatsune.
The DP World Tour will now take a week-long break before returning to the spotlight from February 22nd to 25th in Nairobi for the Kenya Open. Qatar, officially recognized as the State of Qatar, is located in West Asia. It encompasses the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East.
The country shares its sole land border with Saudi Arabia to the south, while the rest of its territory is surrounded by the Persian Gulf. The Gulf of Bahrain, an inlet of the Persian Gulf, separates Qatar from nearby Bahrain.
The capital city is Doha, which is the residence of over 80% of the nation’s population, and the majority of the land area consists of flat, low-lying desert terrain. Qatar has been governed as a hereditary monarchy by the House of Thani since Mohammed bin Thani signed an agreement, though not a formal treaty, with Britain in 1868, which recognized its distinct status.
After the end of Ottoman rule, Qatar became a British protectorate in 1916 and achieved independence in 1971. The current ruler is Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who possesses nearly all executive, legislative, and judicial powers as per the Constitution of Qatar.
He appoints the prime minister and cabinet, while the partially-elected Consultative Assembly has the authority to block legislation and can partially dismiss ministers.
According to the Source tennisworldusa.org