Challenge Tour moves to Madeira Island Open BPI at Seve Ballesteros designed Porto Santo Golfe
Wizardry of late Seve Ballesteros will come to life again as the Challenge Tour moves to the picturesque Madeira Island Open BPI Portugal at Porto Santo Golfe, designed by the Spanish Maestro himself.
Porto Santo Golfe is located in the small town of Porto Santo and is designed on top of a Basalt cliff with shear drops overlooking the Mediterranean. A 156-man field will be competing for lucrative €700,000 event, although the prize money has been capped
to €500,000 by the tour management for rankings specification.
This is the third episode of the Madeira Island Open being staged at Porto Santo after the first event was held in 2009 and the venue, since then, has proved to be a familiar turf for the Challenge Tour graduates.
England’s James Morrison will be returning to defend the title which he won last year, defeating countryman Oliver Fisher. Morrison, 18th graduate of the tour, will try to do the impossible as none of the past winners were able to defend their
title in the tournament's 19-year history. Tano Goya won the 2009 episode of the event when he thrashed Callum Macaulay to record his maiden victory by one stroke.
Other contenders include Scotland’s Alastair Forsyth (2008), Spain’s Santiago Luna (1995), Swede Jarmo Sandelin (1996) and Argentina’s Daniel Vancsik (2007).
Two of the sturdy Portuguese players, including, José-Filipe Lima and Ricardo Santos will also be in contention, trying to retain the home cup.
29-year-old Lima, who was the opening round leader last year and had also finished tied for 12th in 2009, will pose a formidable challenge to the contenders. His final round misadventures caused him the title.
“I had a few problems controlling my driver last year, and with the wind at Porto Santo, it’s not the best place to lose control. But I like the course and played very well there two years ago, so with a little more luck this time, hopefully I can go even
closer,” Lima said while talking to the reporters.
The player went on to add, “This year more than ever Madeira is a very important event for me, not just because I’m obviously Portuguese but also because the prize money counts towards the Challenge Tour Rankings.”
Lima also spoke of Ballesteros and his artistic creation of the course at Porto Santo. Nostalgic of the many things he said to the young Lima, as he would recall, Ballesteros always rendered hard work as the key to success.
The tournament, sanctioned by The European Tour, is scheduled to tee-off on May 19th with the final to be played on the Sunday subsequently.
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