Bjorn all fired up to defend title in Doha

Doha: After enjoying one of the most successful years in his European Tour career, Denmark's Thomas Bjorn is fired up to defend his title at the 2012 Commercialbank Qatar Masters presented by Dolphin Energy, being staged from February 2-5.

For the World Number 35 it will be a welcome return to the Doha Golf Club, a venue where his stellar 2011 season took off with a four shot victory over a world-class field. It was a victory that set up the Dane for a year that would see him win twice more and finish the season ranked ninth on Tour.

"Qatar was a turning point for me as it showed that I could get back into the winning frame of mind and close out tournaments," said Bjorn who spent the winter holidaying with his family and working on his game in Dubai.

"I was delighted with the week. I played solid golf. I think I made one bogey in the last 54 holes. On that golf course and in those conditions, that's good going."

After notching up his 11th European Tour title in Qatar, titles 12th and 13th quickly followed when Bjorn won back-to-back events in stunning fashion in the late summer, first capturing the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, where he won via a five-man play-off, then triumphing at the Omega European Masters by an impressive four shots.

"Winning the third title of the year was probably the most satisfying as the most talked about players on Tour — people like Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer — were all in the field and I still finished above them all," he said.

Described by coach Peter Cowen as one of the finest ball strikers in the world, Bjorn is now clearly back to his best and ready for another successful season in 2012.