The European Tour has moved to Doha but, for Sergio Garcia, the effects of Abu Dhabi still linger.
The Spaniard injured a shoulder in the first round of the Abu Dhabi championship last Thursday and was still feeling discomfort yesterday when he played in the pro-am of the Qatar Masters.
Despite playing through pain, Garcia hopes to make an impression on the leaderboard this week.
He said: “The shoulder is a little bit better. It’s still tight, but at least it is not the pain that it was last week and hopefully by the weekend I’ll be swinging freely. I was able to get a little momentum from Friday onwards last week so hopefully I can do more of the same here.
“I like the course, it plays nice and tough and it’s a nice way to start the year. To win would be great but failing that I’m looking for a solid week.
“The greens look better this year. They are still firm but they are faster than last year.”
Despite his niggling injury, Garcia was able to team with Henrik Stenson and Martin Kaymer in a match against Scotland’s national football manager Gordon Strachan, former Scotland forward Andy Gray and Wales manager Chris Coleman in Doha yesterday.
A keen football supporter, the Spaniard was relieved to keep the reputation of the professional golfers intact against the football team in the pro-am.
He said: “It was great fun to take part in the challenge against three legends with Martin and Henrik and I’m happy to say we won. If we hadn’t we would have taken a lot of punishment.”