Ryder Cup Captain Colin Montgomerie and 12-time European Tour winner Darren Clarke have confirmed their participation in next week’s Open de España at Real Club de Golf de Sevilla.
Montgomerie, who has been crowned Europe’s Number One a record eight times and has 31 European Tour titles to his name, will make his first appearance of the 2010 season on European soil following trips to Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and China.
The Scotsman won the tournament in 1994 when it was staged at Club de Campo in Madrid, and he will be looking to be in contention again 16 years on, as well as run the rule over his potential Team Members for The 38th Ryder Cup in October.
Clarke has had a steady start to the year, with fine performances at the Avantha Masters, where he was tied eighth, and at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, where he finished tied 27th, and the Northern Irishman will be hoping to add his first Open de España title to an already impressive list of European Tour wins.
Defending champion Thomas Levet of France is also in the field, as are former champions Peter Lawrie of Ireland, who won in 2008, and Swedes Niclas Fasth (2006) and Peter Hanson (2005). They are joined by Englishman David Howell, Jeev Milkha Singh of India and Søren Kjeldsen of Denmark.
The Open de España returns to Real Club de Golf de Sevilla this year for the first time since 2008. Last year Thomas Levet took the title at PGA Golf de Catalunya where he became the most successful Frenchman in the history of The European Tour with his fifth triumph – 11 years after his maiden victory in the 1998 Cannes Open – and immediately dedicated the victory on Spanish soil to the nation’s favourite golfer, Seve Ballesteros, in his continuing fight to recover from brain surgery.
The tournament is one of the longest-running on The European Tour, having featured on the International Schedule since 1972, and boasts a legendary roll of past champions including Ballesteros, Arnold Palmer, Sir Nick Faldo, Bernard Gallacher, Bernhard Langer and Padraig Harrington.
