Golf’s Portugal Masters coming up
Portugal Masters is the next stop for the European Tour.
The much awaited event carrying a purse of €3,000,000 has arrived at the Victoria Golf Club with all its glitz and glamour. The venue is one of the most beautiful five courses in Vilamoura. It was established in 2000 and in five years, it became the host
of the World Cup which was won by Wales.
The American-style layout is a design of Arnold Palmer. Above all, the winner will get a share of €500,000, which is a huge amount for a year end income. To win this solid cash, Lee Westwood is all set to tee up tomorrow at the par 72, 7,231 yards course.
Rumour has it, the Englishman won’t be teeing off tomorrow due to a persisting calf injury, which he received in August of this year. The news has not been verified yet, but speculations are, to reach the top most spot of the official world golf ranking,
Lee Westwood will be making an appearance at the event.
Lee Westwood is eyeing the number one rank, which is currently held by Tiger Woods. If the 37-year old wins the Portugal Masters, he will automatically replace his fellow player.
However, the probability of this conjuncture is lying in the lowest zone, as Lee Westwood is having trouble with his leg and it won’t be easy for him to give his hundred percent in the field.
Westy had nearly recovered in the Ryder Cup, but last week at Kingsbarns, he injured himself again, while climbing off the seventh tee.
Apart from the World number two, (Lee Westwood), four more Ryder Cup players will be teeing off on Thursday,
October 14th. These four golfers are Miguel Angel Jimenez, Ross Fisher, Edoardo Molinari and Francesco Molinari.
The group has showed up in the second event after winning the biannual event (Ryder Cup), the first one was the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, which was won by Martin Kaymer.
As for now, Jimenez is the betting favourite for the event. The reason behind this deduction is the green hits in regulation stats which is a major requirement here, are consistently fulfilled by the Spaniard.
Speaking of requirements, Ross Fisher gave a statement last week at Dunhill Links Championship that he was eyeing the Race to Dubai. Therefore, he required a finish in the top two at the Portugal Masters. Fisher is currently 13th in the Race to Dubai
ranking.
He told the press, "My attention has switched back to The Race to Dubai now, definitely, I finished fourth last year and it would be disappointing not to finish better than that this season. I've obviously got a bit of work to do in order to achieve that
but I've got some big tournaments coming up so it's not over yet".
The hole to watch is the par-5, 463 yards, 18th. Length is exclusively a tough task here particularly if a player requires a one-shot lead on Sunday afternoon. If it was not a golf resort, this hole could be utilized as a fishing hole with water
running on the left side of the tee all the way to the centre of the fairway. A shot steered into sharp left can push the ball into the water and hence can earn a double-bogey without an effort.
According to the experts, the skill required to conquer this course is excellent putting. Lee Westwood won 2009 championship with an aggregate of 23-under-par and he owed the score to his putter. As a record, 44 players finished with a score of 10-under,
which deduces that holing a ball here in two is not much of a hassle. All a player requires is a good Titleist putter and some accuracy skills, the ball will find it’s own way into the hole.
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