Sergia Garcia, chasing Tiger's top spot,

will play in Qatar Masters this month

PRESS RELEASE

Doha (QATAR): After the best year of his professional career, world No 2 Sergio Garcia will jet in to Doha for the 2009 Commercialbank Qatar Masters, presented by Dolphin Energy, with one eye on the top of the world rankings.
The 28 year-old Spaniard has added his name to a growing list of golfing heavyweights for the twelfth staging of the US$ 2.5 million PGA European Tour event to be held at Doha Golf Club from January 22-25.
With world No 1 Tiger Woods sidelined through injury, Garcia is currently the hottest player on the planet and his inclusion in the 120-man Doha field is another massive boost for an event staged by the Qatar Golf Association (QGA), Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) and Commercialbank.
“Sergio made huge strides in 2008 with victories on both The European Tour and the US PGA TOUR,” said QGA President Hassan Al Nuami. “As a result of his phenomenally successful year, he has moved to number two in the world and a win here in Doha will get him even closer to top spot. We are absolutely delighted he has chosen to return to Qatar.”
Although Garcia has yet to win a title on the Middle East’s booming golf scene, this will be his third consecutive visit to Doha. The current leader in the Race to Dubai standings is a big supporter of the region.
“The tournaments in the Middle East are great,” he said. “The fields are good and you get a lot of World Ranking points. You're moving in the right direction.”
There’s little doubt Garcia is swinging in the right direction after a year that saw him win his seventh US PGA Tour title at the prestigious Players Championship at Sawgrass – often dubbed “the fifth Major” – as well as finish runner-up at The European Open, The US PGA Championship and The Tour Championship.
“There are always a couple of things that you can improve on,” added the world No 2. “I've been improving on my short game quite a lot this year and that is probably what's going to give me the extra edge. I’ve got to keep working hard on every single part and on my mental game and see if we can keep moving and taking the right steps towards what we want to achieve.
“I think The European Tour has done a great job in the past ten years. The quality of the golf courses has grown up a lot and are much better than they used to be.”
Facing Garcia, Boo Weekley, Brandt Snedeker and the many other household names who will play in Qatar is the notoriously tough 7,388yd Doha Golf Club with its biting desert winds.
“As always the course is looking in great shape for the tournament and will again provide a different type of test to those faced in the other Middle East events,” said Commercialbank Group CEO Andrew Stevens. “However, we are looking at a field of players with more strength in depth than any other event in the region – and with the world number two set to join us these are exciting times for the tournament.

More information on the Commercialbank Qatar Masters 2009 is available at the official website http://www.qatar-masters.com/.

Next time you're feeling down about

your golf, just think about John E

Morgan and what he's come through

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Some people seem to think golfers can be a fairly bland bunch – but they obviously haven’t met John E Morgan. This man has a story to tell.
If awards were handed out for courage in the face of adversity, Morgan’s trophy cabinet would be bulging at the seams.
Larger than life in every way, the 31 year old is one of the most genial guys you could wish to meet, whether on or off the golf course.
But if a laid-back demeanour helps to maintain his reputation as the joker of the pack – a portrayal he revels in – it is worth noting Morgan also happens to be a seriously talented golfer.
For evidence, we need look no further than a quite stunning round of 61 on the third day of the 2008 Apulia San Domenico Grand Final, a tournament in which he had to finish third or better in order to muscle his way into the top 20 of the final Challenge Tour Rankings.
As it was, a tie for second place was good enough to catapult the man from the West Country to 17th in the Rankings.
That secured him a second tilt at The European Tour, a stage he last graced in 2003 – the same year he secured playing privileges on the other side of the Atlantic, having come through the US PGA Qualifying School.
In 2004 he came close to securing his maiden victory as a professional when losing out in a play-off at the John Deere Classic, where his natural aggression was to cost him the title, as he found water with his tee shot on the second extra hole.
But any sense of lingering disappointment he may have felt paled into insignificance compared with the pain – both physical and mental – he was to experience the following month.
After boarding a flight for the Reno-Tahoe Open, Morgan – who was diagnosed with epilepsy as a child – suffered a seizure so violent he snapped his seatbelt and broke several ribs.
Dallas Airport was closed down as the stricken passenger was stretchered off the plane and taken to hospital, where he eventually awoke in excruciating pain, having separated his ribs and seriously damaged the muscle around the sternum.
“After that, I said to myself I’d have to carry on playing to be in with a chance of keeping my card,” he said. “But whilst my brain was telling me I was still ok to play golf, my body was telling me to stop.”
Golf understandably took a back seat whilst Morgan recovered from both the pain and the shock, and it was not until 2006 that he felt well enough to attempt to rebuild his golfing career – and in many ways his life – on the Challenge Tour.
After losing his playing privileges, Morgan was now reliant on sponsors’ invitations to compete. And, despite some initial rustiness, he played well enough in three of the five events he entered to secure further opportunities for the following year.
Having finished in 65th place in the 2007 Rankings Morgan subsequently earned full playing privileges for the 2008 season, and put them to maximum use – though his year was still not without its fair share of trauma.
He explained: “I’m still going to have my funny turns now and again – I can only hope they don’t happen when I’m out on the golf course. If and when they do come, I just pray that I’ve got people around me who know how to deal with the situation, to make sure I don’t do anything stupid. At the Challenge of Ireland this year I was given a two-shot penalty after picking the ball up out of the rough. And I don’t even remember doing it! Then at the Piemonte Open in Italy, I had a turn on the practice range and ended up missing my tee time.
“Apparently, [Challenge Tour Member] Andrew Willey told me I took all my clubs out of my bag, took my shoes and socks off, and just lay down on the soaking wet grass. Eventually I came round, made it to the tee, and shot two under for the first five holes – but I can’t remember a single shot!

"That’s probably the most frustrating thing, the memory loss. Because every time I arrive at a course, it feels like I’m playing it for the first time. But most of the guys on the Challenge Tour already knew about my condition, which made it easier and meant I felt more comfortable.”
With his Race to Dubai now underway – he collected €12,720 for finishing in a tie for 16th in the recent Alfred Dunhill Championship – Morgan will be grateful merely to reach the finishing line without suffering any medical mishaps along the way.
But whatever brickbats life throws at Morgan, who also suffers from dyslexia, it seems his sunny disposition will never fade.
He said: “Sometimes I wonder what might have been if I’d never had the epilepsy, but you can’t live your life like that – I’d end up in floods of tears every day! Sometimes I get down about it, but what can you do?

"It’s just something I have to deal with every day of my life. When it does happen at awkward times, I do get annoyed and think: why couldn’t you have just waited until after I’ve finished my round? But you can’t pick and choose.
“I’d like to think I’ll get back to where I was before the accident, and have my moment in the sun again. I don’t know how long the body will last, but I think I’ve definitely still got some game left in me. I might surprise one or two people, who had maybe written me off.

"If a few putts go my way and I have a bit of luck, I might be there or thereabouts in one or two tournaments this season. But if I can’t get back to the same level and I’m scratching around every week, I’ll probably go off and so something else and just be grateful for the life that golf gave me.”