Tommy Fleetwood will participate for the sixth time in the European Tour tournament, having competed in the Algarve every year between 2012 and 2016.
«I am looking forward to returning to the Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course. It is a beautiful area of the world and I have beautiful memories of when I played there in the past,” said Fleetwood.
«In 2020, I started well in the Race to Dubai, with two positive weeks in the Middle East, including a 2nd place tied behind Lee Westwood in Abu Dhabi. As with everyone else, my season was suspended shortly after, but I am focused on a strong conclusion of the season and I think the Portugal Masters will be the ideal place in Europe to face a good list of participants, before heading to the US Open the following week, ”he added.
The 14th edition of the Portugal Masters is part of the “Iberian Swing” of the European Tour. Play right after the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucia Masters, which ended last Sunday in Spain. The Open de Portugal at Royal Óbidos concludes this series next week.
The European Tour resumed its competitive activity in July with two “dual-ranking” events in Austria, and soon afterwards with the new six-week “UK Swing”, fulfilling the strategy of, whenever possible, holding events in succession in chosen regions, avoiding long trips whenever possible.
As with all the tournaments in the 2020 rectification calendar, the Portugal Masters will be subject to the European Tour Safety and Health Program (COVID-19 Health Strategy) and, consequently, spectators will not be allowed on the Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course.
The Portugal Masters will also be covered by the new “Golf for Good” initiative of the European Tour, which aims to support the local communities where the European Circuit passes, honoring the true heroes, as key elements of the front line, at the same time that it intends promote the health benefits of golf.
Portugal Masters started today in Vilamoura with a good field and a good weather forecast until Sunday. This is a good opportunity to see at the Dom Pedro Victoria golf course some of the best players in Europe.
pro-am Winners
Yesterday, in pro-am, where for the second time two professionals played in each amateur team (one played 9 holes and the other 9), the winners were Bradley Dredge and Brandon Stone. The best Portuguese team finished in second place: Dom Pedro Hotels & Golf Collection led by professionals Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and Guido Migliozzi with amateurs Stefano Saviotti, Francisco Damásio and Manuel Damásio Jr.
Dom Pedro Victoria will be, until Sunday, the European golf capital.
The 46-year-old Englishman, is one of the biggest golf champions ever in Vilamoura, and joins his compatriots Eddie Pepperell and Andy Sullivan, the 2015 winner.
Westwood will make his first appearance at the Portugual Masters tournament since winning ten years ago in the Algarve his 30th international title, while Sullivan earned his third European Tour trophy at the Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course in 2015, with a huge advantage of 9 strokes over the second – a record in the Portugal Masters.
In 2009, Westwood broke a two-year career in Portugal without a European Tour win, beating italian Francesco Molinari by two shots, thanks to three rounds -6 par for an aggregate of -23 par, the second best result ever in Vilamoura tournament history.
That victory catapulted him to a peak that culminated, later that season in a Race to Dubai victory and became No. 1 European Tour player of the Year. The following year, he became the first Englishman since Nick Faldo in 1994 to rise to the top of the world rankings.
“I have happy memories of Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course from my win there in 2009,” said Westwood, who had reached 26 top-tens between his 2007 British Masters and Portugal Masters triumphs in 2009 without raising any trophy during that period.
“I had a series of ‘almost’ between these two wins and that made me very happy to have finally crossed the line in Portugal,” he added.
Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course
“Many players have been telling me about how this tournament has grown in recent years and I look forward to returning and witnessing this growth. It also gives me the opportunity to prepare for the Nedbank Golf Challenge title defense (November 14-17 in South Africa). So I’m excited about this week (in Portugal), ”concluded the 46-year-old, who has 43 titles in his career, including 24 on the European Tour and 2 on the PGA Tour.
As for Andy Sullivan, who was Westwood‘s partner in the 2006 European Ryder Cup team at Hazeltine (United States), he was almost becoming the first and only player to win the Portugal Masters in consecutive years.
After the win in 2015, interestingly also 23 under Par as Westwood, the 32-year-old British was runner-up in 2016, just one shot from Irishman Padraig Harrington, another of the illustrious holders of the Portuguese golf tournament, with three Majors in is career.
“The Portugal Masters is an event I always look to when the calendar is announced,” said Sullivan. “It’s a big tournament and it’s always nice to be back in a golf course where we’ve won before. I always take my family with me and they enjoy being there as much as I do – and it never hurts to have extra support when we compete, ”added the most smiling golfer.
“This tournament gives us the opportunity to start winning an eland for the last three tournaments of the year. I really want to finish the golf season hard and this event is the ideal platform for that, ”concluded Sully’, winner of three international golf titles. Eddie Pepperell, for his part, has won twice on the European Tour and also confirmed his presence at the Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course, with the aim of maintaining his top-50 status in the world golf ranking, which gives him access to Majors and the World Golf Championships.
Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course
The Portugal Masters 2019 will then have the presence of a luxury English quintet if we had Tom Lewis double winner at the Victoria golf course and title defender, and Oliver Fisher who last year in the Algarve became the first player completing a golf round in 59 shots on the European Tour.
Also new is the presence of Thomas Bjorn, the captain of the European team that won the Ryder Cup in 2018 in France. Bjorn won the Portuguese Open in 2010 and is a veteran with 21 international titles.
Portugal Masters tickets are available from 8€ for ages 12 to 17; 17€ for promotional tickets and 20€ for adults.
