Martin Kaymer, who reached the summit of the Official World Golf Ranking earlier this year, will attempt to scale the heights of success once again when he headlines the field for the Portugal Masters at the Oceânico Victoria Golf Course from October 13-16.
The German, last year's winner of The Race to Dubai, will prove a huge attraction at the Vilamoura venue as he goes looking for a second European Tour triumph of the 2011 season.
Kaymer’s first victory, his ninth European Tour title success in total, came in the Gulf in January at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.
Kaymer – who also returned two and half points during Europe’s Ryder Cup triumph at The Celtic Manor Resort last October – has notched four other top ten finishes thus far to help him to a current positions of fifth respectively in The 2011 Race to Dubai.
For sheer golfing pedigree alone, he will be amongst the hot favourites to claim the €416,660 first prize available from the total prize fund of €2,500,000, such lead billing further strengthened by an excellent record in the championship.
Kaymer has finished in the top 30 on both his outings (in 2007 and 2008) and on his way to finishing in a tie for seventh place in 2007, the 26 year old set the course record with a blistering 11 under par 61 on the opening day, a mark equalled by Denmark’s Jeppe Huldahl in last year’s third round.
Kaymer said: “I am delighted to return to Oceânico Victoria Golf Course for the Portugal Masters. I enjoy the weather and the golf course and I have happy memories of my 61 in 2007. It’s a great place to visit and this will be the third time I have played in the event. Hopefully it will be third time lucky!”
The Arnold Palmer-designed Oceânico Victoria Golf Course was opened in 2004 and hosted the World Golf Championships – Algarve World Cup a year later, a title captured by the Welsh duo of Bradley Dredge and Stephen Dodd. In 2007 it hosted the Portugal Masters for the first time, won by England’s Steve Webster and, since then, Spaniard Alvaro Quiros, Lee Westwood and Australian Richard Green have triumphed there.
