Padraig Harrington, Europe captain in the Ryder Cup and former champion of this tournament, and Matt Wallace, winner of four European Tour titles, are confirmed in the 15th edition of the Portugal Masters, which will take place from the 4th to the 7th of November at the Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course, in Vilamoura.
The Portugal Masters this year distributes €1,5 million in prize money and is the last qualifying competition for the closing tournament of the European first division, the DP World Tour Championship, in Dubai.
Irishman Padraig Harrington, 50 years old, won his 15th and last European Tour title at the Portugal Masters 2016 and «keeps all his competitiveness». This year, "it shone in one of the Grand Slam tournaments, having been 4th in the PGA Championship, and was also 6th in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic", says the organization of the competition.
«I always enjoyed playing the Portugal Masters. It's a fantastic tournament, where usually the weather is good and there's a great atmosphere,” said Padraig Harrington, the European coach who lost this year's Ryder Cup to the United States.
Harrington thus joins five other Portugal Masters champions who return to Vilamoura this year: South African George Coetzee (who will defend the title he won in 2020), Englishmen Andy Sullivan and Steve Brown, Frenchman Alex Levy and the Dane Lucas Bjerregaard.
If, for the Irish, «the Portugal Masters is the last trophy in his record, which includes three Grand Slam titles», for Matt Wallace, the victory at the Portugal Open @ Morgado Golf Resort, in 2017, «was the beginning of a beautiful story».
The 31-year-old Englishman «was not a big figure on the international circuit when he won his first European Tour title, in Portimão, in May 2017. He hadn't even won any tournament on the Challenge Tour, the second division of European golf, although in 2016 it was number 1 on the Alps Tour, with six titles taken in this third European division», highlights the Portugal Masters.
The Portuguese Open «was an unlocker and after that it looked like a hurricane, adding three more trophies to its record in 2018».
In 2018 "he was seriously disgusted at not being called up for the European team that won the Ryder Cup in France and retaliated with a 2nd place in the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai", at the close of the 2018 season. In 2019 he again proved his worth with a 3rd place in one of the Majors, the PGA Championship.
«I won my first European Tour title in Morgado, not far from Vilamoura, and I always have good feelings when I return to the Algarve. It's a great place to play golf at this time of year and the Portugal Masters is a tournament I've always enjoyed playing,” said Matt Wallace, who this year has two top-10s on the European Tour and three top-10s on the PGA Tour, highlighting the 4th place last week at Zozo Championsip, in Japan.
As previously announced, the 15th Portugal Masters will also feature four players who have won European Tour tournaments this year: the Scots Grant Forrest and Calum Hill, the Danish brothers Nicolai and Rasmus Hojgaard, and the French Victor Perez .
Os Portugal Masters tickets they amount to 20 euros per day for adults, 17 euros for those participating in subsidized programs, 8 euros for young people aged 12 to 17 and are free for children under 12 years old.
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