"GOLF IN PORTUGAL" - NEWSLETTER - Nº 74

Welcome to the March 2008 edition of the monthly "Golf in Portugal" Newsletter.

General - Algarve

In mid-March, the new State promotion "Allgarve" tourism programme details were announced by the authorities. Apart from musical, cultural gastronomic and entertainment events, the programme comprises in several Pro and Amateur golf championships. The first of these is the Ladies Portuguese Open, an official Ladies European Tour event with total prize money of €200,000. It takes place on 13th-15th June at the Quinta da Ria golf resort, the first time this Open is being played in eastern Algarve. Last year, Vale do Lobo hosted the inaugural Nations Cup for amateurs, and it will return to this venue in September, and then from 16th to 19th October the €3 million Portuguese Masters will again be staged at Vilamoura's Oceânico Victoria layout designed by Arnold Palmer, where Steve Webster will defend his title won in 2007 on the same course.

Also recently announced by its sponsors, Oceânico Golf, is an official 54-hole European PGA Europro Tour event being played at their Millennium and Victoria courses from 23rd to 25th July. The competitive Tour is designed to develop young pros aspiring to graduate to the Challenge and main PGA European Tours. Several Europro tournaments have been held in the Algarve this decade and the last being two years ago on the Morgado course. This new event will have a new Pro-Am format similar to the main European Tour's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland, and full details are to be confirmed in due course. However, it is known that 200 professionals will be playing in the tournament.

The Le Méridien Penina Golf & Resort has now re-opened its totally refurbished and expanded driving range and practice facilities, with the addition of five target greens on the 4-hectare area. To improve drainage, the site was built up with a 50-cm. layer of soil and it was entirely re-seeded. Apart from a new irrigation system, the facilities include a new putting-green, chipping-green and practice bunker. Up to 70 players can now practise simultaneously at the Penina range from grassed bays, making it one of the largest of its kind in Europe.

Not since 1990 has the Portuguese Amateur Championship been won by a national player, but extremely promising 16-year-old Pedro Figueiredo, member of the Quinta do Perú Golf Club located south of Lisbon, and who plays off a plus 3 handicap, became champion this year at the Estela links course in north-west Portugal with a 72-hole tally of 282 strokes (6 under par). Pedro, who came in 3rd at the 2007 Boys Junior Orange Bowl Championship in Florida, was also the best placed Portuguese player – pro or amateur – in the recent Madeira Islands Open, where he tied for 27th place. He has also been invited to play in the Portuguese Open at the Oitavos course near Cascais from 3rd to 6th April. Last year's winner, Spaniard Pablo Martin – who has since turned pro – was the first amateur to win a PGA European Tour event.

General - Lisbon & North Portugal & Portuguese Islands

Grégory Bourdy, who began the final round in the Estoril Open of Portugal 2008 with a four stroke advantage over his playing partner, had looked down and out as he reached the turn in three over par for the day and allowed a host of players to overtake him at the top of the leaderboard. He was not to be denied though, as he dug deep and rediscovered the swing that had seen him dominate the first three rounds at Oitavos.

Bourdy began his recovery with a birdie on the tenth hole, adding another on the 11th before taking advantage of Oitavos’s two back nine par fives to pick up a further two strokes and move to 18 under with two holes to play. Forsyth, meanwhile, staged his own comeback after dropping two shots in his opening six holes. The Scotsman covered his remaining 12 holes in a stunning seven under par, including birdies on the two toughest holes on the course – the 17th and 18th – to set up a three way play-off. All three men made par on the 18th at the first extra hole, meaning they went back to the tee to do it all again. A pulled drive meant Forsyth could only manage a bogey five at the second time of asking, leaving Bourdy and Howell to fight it out for the top prize. The pair halved in four once more before being taken to the 17th to try and determine a winner. Bourdy left his approach on the front edge of the green, some 30 feet from the hole, while Howell slightly pulled his four iron second to the left of the putting surface.

The Englishman then played a “poor chip”, leaving himself a 20 foot par putt. With Bourdy rolling his ball to within 18 inches of the cup, Howell had to save his par to keep the tournament alive but the Englishman’s effort slipped agonisingly past to allow Bourdy a tap-in for victory.

“It’s a fantastic feeling,” said Bourdy. “It was very hard at the start of the day – especially the first nine holes when I was three over. I didn’t look at the leaderboards but I knew that the other players were making birdies. “But at the start of the day I knew that I had to play under par – if I did that then I would have a good chance to win. So I knew that on the back nine that if I could make four or five birdies then it would be enough.

“In the play-off I was quite nervous because it was my first play-off on The European Tour so to win against players like Alastair Forsyth and David Howell was amazing.”

International News

Sean O'Hair shot a final round of 2-under-par 69 to win the PODS Championship at the Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club, Tampa Bay, Florida, by two strokes from six players who tied for second place. With his second PGA Tour win the 24 year-old climbed to World Nº 35. This is a rise of 41 places and earns him a start in the WGC-CA Championship and the Masters Tournament.

India’s Arjun Atwal, defeated defending champion Peter Hedlbom of Sweden in a sudden death play-off at the Maybank Malaysian Open at Kota Permai Golf and Country Club. The pair finished on 18 under par 270 after Atwal surged through the field with a superb eight under par 64 to Hedblom’s 71. A par on the second play-off hole secured the title for Atwal and he jumped 140 places to Nº 203. Hedblom improved his ranking by 29 positions and moved to Nº 85.

Iain Pyman won the Tusker Kenya Open on the European Challenge Tour with a final round of 68 at Nairobi’s Karen Golf Club, for a 12 under par aggregate score of 272 which was enough to hold off the challenge of Austria’s Thomas Feyrsinger, who finished three shots back. Pyman improved his ranking by 80 positions by moving to 225th.

Tiger Woods extended his remarkable run of victories in World Ranking Tournaments to six with a superb birdie on the 72nd hole to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard at Bay Hill Club & Lodge, Orlando, Florida. The 24 foot downhill left-to-right putt was the longest the World Number One had holed all week and it denied Bart Bryant the chance of a play-off after he had closed with a 67 to become the only fifth player to record all for rounds in the sixties in the history of the tournament. Woods stretched his gap at the top of the Official Ranking to 12.05 average points.

Graeme McDowell capped an extraordinary final round at the inaugural Ballantine’s Championship with a thrilling sudden-death play-off victory on the third extra hole over Jeev Milkha Singh at the Pinx Golf Club. After both players had posted 24-under-par 264 totals they returned to the 18th tee three times before McDowell produced a sublime seven iron from 179 yards to within a foot of the hole to set up a
title clinching birdie. McDowell climbed to Nº 59 with an improvement of 35 places. Jeev Milka Singh jumped 11 places to Nº 79.

The weather delayed the WGC-CA Championship which was finally concluded on the Monday at Doral Golf Resort & Spa, Miami, Florida. Geoff Ogilvy picking up the title with a final round of 71 for a single stroke victory over Retief Goosen, Vijay Singh and Jim Furyk. With his second World Golf Championship win, Ogilvy moved into the World Top 10 with a seven place jump to 10th in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Alastair Forsyth beat Hennie Otto at the first extra hole to win the Madeira Islands Open BPI - Portugal title after both players had birdied their 72nd holes to tie on 15 under par 273. Forsyth holed from seven feet to win the play-off with a birdie three after the players returned to the 18th. With this second career Alastair Forsyth win he climbed 70 places to Nº 109. Hennie Otto improved his ranking by 81 places to move to 146.

Andres Romero shot a final round 68 to finish on 13-under-par and win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans by one stroke from Peter Lonard at TPC Louisiana. Romero had to come back to the course on the Sunday morning to finish his third round which was suspended due to heavy rain and lightning. With his maiden PGA Tour victory coming in just his twelfth PGA Tour tournament, Romero climbed to Nº 21, up 19 places, while Lonard moved to Nº 46 and earning him a place in the 2008 Masters Tournament.

Thomas Levet defeated Oliver Fisher at the first extra hole with a par 4 to win the MAPFRE Open de Andalucía by Valle Romano after the pair finished tied on 16- under-par totals of 272 at Aloha GC. The 72nd hole had seen Fisher find water off the tee while Levet made an excellent par from a greenside bunker. The win moved Levet 140 places up the ranking to 130th. Fisher jumped 95 places into the 195th position.

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