Between them, the Irish duo of Darren Clarke and Padraig Harrington, Germany’s Martin Kaymer and Scotland’s Paul Lawrie have accrued a total of seven Majors; but to date none has tasted success in the Portugal Masters, which returns to the Vilamoura venue next week.
Kaymer is the highest-ranked player in the field at World Number 20, eight places higher in the list than Austrian Bernd Wiesberger, currently seventh in The Race to Dubai thanks chiefly to his recent win in the Alstom Open de France.
Welshman Jamie Donaldson, Italian Francesco Molinari, Scotland’s Marc Warren and France’s Victor Dubuisson complete the set of top 60 players heading to the Algarve next month.
Donaldson will forever be remembered as the man who sealed Europe’s victory in The 2014 Ryder Cup, and the three-time European Tour champion will be joined in Portugal by four of his teammates from Gleneagles: Denmark’s Thomas Bjørn, Dubuisson, Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher and Kaymer.
That quality quintet will be bidding to succeed Alex Levy as champion after the Frenchman became the eighth different winner in eight editions of the Portugal Masters 12 months ago.
Another winner of the Portugal Masters, Alvaro Quiros, is attached to Oceânico Victoria Golf Course, and the big-hitting Spaniard will be hoping to use his local knowledge to his advantage when he tees up in the €2 million tournament for the ninth successive season. ”The same applies to the 2012 Madeira Islands Open champion Ricardo Santos, who was born in Faro and currently lives in Vilamoura.
Santos’ compatriot Ricardo Gouveia will also shoulder the expectations of the home crowd after his breakthrough season on the Challenge Tour.
Gouveia is currently second in the Road to Oman Rankings, thanks to one win and eight further top ten finishes on the Challenge Tour this term.
Other notable names in the field include Paul Dunne, who stunned the golfing world in July when he shared the lead heading into the final round of The 144th Open Championship. The Irishman, who turned professional after helping GB&I to victory in the Walker Cup, eventually finished in a share of 30th place at St Andrews.