Portugal attracts Golf's big Hitters

The 2008 Estoril Open de Portugal will see an impressive field that contains 13 Ryder Cup players, six World Cup winners, three PGA Champions, a World Golf Championships winner and a host of European Tour champions - many with specialist knowledge of winning in Portugal - gather at Oitavos Dunes from April 3-6. Included in The Ryder Cup contingent are Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke, winner of two WGC titles, England’s David Howell and Ireland’s Paul McGinley, who holed the winning putt in 2002 at The Belfry. Howell is also one of the three winners of the BMW PGA Championship – The European Tour’s flagship event - along with Scotland’s Scott Drummond (2004) and Spain’s Ignacio Garrido (2003). McGinley, meanwhile, is one of the six World Cup winners in the field but it is Welshman Stephen Dodd who will be particularly looking forward to returning to Portugal having enjoyed the sweet taste of success in the team format by winning the 2005 World Cup in Portugal. He will be joined by the current holder of the World Cup title, Marc Warren, who in partnership with Colin Montgomerie claimed Scotland’s first victory in the Omega Mission Hills World Cup in China last November, and other World Cup winners Peter Fowler (Australia 1989), Per-Ulrik Johansson (Sweden 1991), McGinley (Ireland 1997) and Marcel Siem (Germany 2006). All will be looking for individual glory when they tee up in the Estoril Open de Portugal. Steve Webster of England has already achieved that individual feat and makes a poignant return to the country where he won an emotional Portugal Masters in October last year. Spain’s Pablo Martin is another relishing the return to Portugal. Twelve months ago he created history by becoming the first amateur to win on The European Tour and he is bidding to emulate England’s Paul Broadhurst by making a successful defence of the title. Others to have enjoyed success on the Portuguese mainland include other past champions Michael Jonzon of Sweden, Gary Orr of Scotland and England’s Steven Richardson while Frenchman Jean-Francois Remesy won the Estoril Open in 1999. Scotland’s Alastair Forsyth has also developed a fondness for Portugal having won last week’s Madeira Islands Open BPI – Portugal and he has now set his sights on a unique Portuguese double. No player has ever won both titles in the same season although England’s Peter Mitchell, the only player to have won both titles, did hold them both at the same time having won in Madeira in 1997 and Portugal in 1998. José-Felipe Lima, who won the 2004 Aa St Omer Open, leads the home challenge at Quinta da Marinha Oitavos Golfe, which will be hosting its third European Tour event and has previously also hosted events on the Seniors Tour, Challenge Tour and Ladies European Tour.