The European Tour returns to the beautiful surroundings of the Victoria Clube de Golfe for the 11thedition of the Portugal Masters. With a strong field heading to the southern region of the Algarve, here is everything you need to know ahead of this week’s event.
REWIND
Padraig Harrington claimed his first European Tour title in eight years as he held off the challenge of defending champion Andy Sullivan 12 months ago.
The three-time Major Champion drew on all his experience to perform under pressure and produce a closing bogey-free 65 to get to 23 under, one shot clear of Sullivan, who also closed his week at Victoria Clube de Golfe with a 65, and two better than Anders Hansen and Mikko Korhonen - who secured his playing privileges after starting the week 116th on the Race to Dubai.
Sullivan made a stunning start to the final round, birdieing four of his first five holes to get to 20 under, while Korhonen birdied the second and fourth and when Hansen had gains on the fourth and fifth, there was a three-way tie at the top.
But Harrington began chipping away at the lead, making birdies on the second, the 11th (with a holed bunker shot) and the 12th to join Sullivan and Hansen atop the leaderboard. Harrington spun his approach on the 14th back to five feet to move ahead but Sullivan took an aggressive line over the water on the 17th and joined him at 22 under.
A third birdie of the week on the penultimate hole followed from Harrington, however, and he parred the last with a brilliant up and down to claim a dramatic victory.
THE FIELD
As defending champ and three-time Major winner, Harrington headlines the field alongside a host of Europe’s finest, and Portugal’s most promising, players.
Ryder Cup Captain Thomas Bjørn, former Masters Champions José María Olazábal and Danny Willett, former Open Champion Paul Lawrie will join Harrington among the household names in Portugal.
The addition of World Golf Championship winners Shane Lowry and Russell Knox to recent Ryder Cup stars such as Thomas Pieters, Andy Sullivan, Victor Dubuisson and Nicolas Colsaerts only adds to a richly diverse field packed with talent.
In total there are eight of the ten former Portugal Masters champions and 61 European Tour winners teeing it up on the Algarve.
THE COURSE
Now in its 11thyear of staging the Portugal Masters, the Victoria Clube de Golf is now firmly established as one of the tour’s most popular venues.
Designed by the legendary Arnold Palmer and opened in 2004, the Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course has hosted the Portugal Masters since its first edition in 2007. The par five 17th is the signature hole of the course and is called “Cascatas Victória” (Victoria Falls), honouring the 12 waterfalls inside the several lakes along the right hand side of the fairway. The 17thand 18thare the two toughest holes on the course, with the final challenge facing the players a long par four with sand and water protecting the green.
Before that tough closing stretch is a golf course which rewards good play with a lot of chances to make birdies, which traditionally makes the Portugal Maters one of the lowest scoring and exciting events on tour.
DID YOU KNOW?
• Padraig Harrington will attempt to become the first player to successfully defend the Portugal Masters.
• The 2014 Portugal Masters was the second European Tour title of that season for Frenchman, Alexander Levy. This victory meant he became the first Frenchman to record multiple European Tour victories in the same season.
• The 2014 Portugal Masters was reduced to 36 holes due to inclement weather and was the tenth official European Tour event to be curtailed to 36 holes. This was the second time during the 2014 season an event was played over 36 holes. The other was also on Portuguese soil, at the Madeira Islands Open – Portugal – BPI.
• Scott Jamieson came within a whisker of the first official 59 at the 2013 Portugal Masters. The Scot’s round of 60 was the 18th official score of 60 in European Tour history.
• Tom Lewis claimed his first European Tour title in just this third event as a professional at the 2011 Portugal Masters. This matched the European Tour record for a player winning in the fewest amount of events since leaving the amateur game. Alejandro Cañizares won on his third outing in the paid ranks at the 2006 Russian Open.
• Playing on as sponsors invitation in 2011, Lewis then aged 20 years and 284 days became the third youngest Englishman to win in European Tour history, behind Paul Way (19 years and 149 days – 1982 KLM Open) and Sir Nick Faldo (20 years and 30 days – 1977 Skol Lager Individual).
• When Shane Lowry won the 2012 Portugal Masters beating Ross Fisher by one shot, he joined Pablo Martin Benavides as the only two players to have won on the European Tour as both an amateur and a professional. Lowry won the Irish Open in 2009 as an amateur in his very first European Tour appearance.
• When Richard Green won the 2010 Portugal Masters he became the second left-hander to win that year, following Phil Mickelson at the Masters Tournament. This marked the first time in European Tour history two left handed players had won in the same season.
