No fewer than 23 countries are hosting competition on The 2005 European Tour International Schedule, and The Daily Telegraph Dunlop Masters marks the first to be played in England this year with no fewer than seven members of Europe's winning 2004 Ryder Cup Team teeing-up at the Marriott Forest of Arden in Warwickshire.
Indeed The Daily Telegraph Dunlop Masters is the first of four successive events in Britain and Ireland, preceding the Nissan Irish Open at Carton House Golf Club, the BMW Championship at Wentworth Club and The Celtic Manor Wales Open at The Celtic Manor Resort which, together, offer an impressive prize fund in excess of €10,500,000.
The return of Dunlop, one of Britain's best known sports brands, as co-title sponsor with The Daily Telegraph of the prestigious Masters title rekindles memories of this event which will be played for the 59th time with the BBC again televising the action.
Barry Lane secured the title in 2004 with a sensational final round of 66, winning his fifth European Tour Title on the eve of his 500th appearance, and will be looking to become only the third golfer to make a successive defence of this title by following in the footsteps of Bernard Gallacher (1974/75) and Greg Norman (1981/82).
Lane, however, faces stiff competition for the £283,330 first prize from a record prize fund of £1.7 million with Paul Casey, Darren Clarke, David Howell, Paul McGinley, Colin Montgomerie, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood, who travelled home from Detroit last September with The Ryder Cup again in their hands, all in the field.
Clarke, a member of the International Sports Management group which organises and promotes The Daily Telegraph Dunlop Masters, has a strong affinity with the Marriott Forest of Arden having won the English Open in 2000 and 2002. He said: "The Marriott Forest of Arden is right up there with my favourite courses anywhere in the world."
Ian Woosnam, the 2006 European Team Ryder Cup Captain, has also enjoyed success on the Arden Course, winning the English Open in 1993, and he will be seeking his third Masters win following victories in 1983 and 1994.
Montgomerie, too, is delighted to be returning as he won the English Open in 1994 and the Masters title in 1998 at the Marriott Forest of Arden.
The Daily Telegraph Dunlop Masters also sees Brian Davis return to European shores after performing with distinction on the US PGA Tour during the early season. Davis, winner of the US PGA Tour Qualifying School last December and joint third in the Nissan Open in Los Angeles, will be making his first appearance of the year in Europe.
The Marriott Forest of Arden, which boasts one of the toughest finishing holes in the par three 18th, is one of the most popular venues on The European Tour International Schedule and will be hosting its 12th European Tour event.
The Daily Telegraph Dunlop Masters is also one of Europe's most established events dating back to the first British Masters in 1946 when Bobby Locke and Jimmy Adams tied for the title at Stoneham.
