Middle East and North Africa Golf Course News

Major boost for Volvo Golf Champions with six more stars in the field

The inaugural Volvo Golf Champions has taken a major step towards its high-flying ‘Champions All’ status with six more world class players, José Maria Olazábal, Miguel Angel Jiménez, Sergio García, Paul Casey, Pádraig Harrington and Todd Hamilton, three of them ‘major’ champions, committing to play in the European Tour’s newest event over the Montgomerie Course at the Royal Golf Club, Bahrain from 27th – 30th January.

The newly-appointed European Ryder Cup captain José Maria Olazábal, will be joined by 18-time European Tour winner Miguel Angel Jiménez and a rejuvenated Sergio García, who has decided to make his 2010 European Tour debut at the first-ever European Tour event to be staged in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
 
The 31-year-old Spaniard will be looking for some early-season form to propel him back up towards the top 10 of the Official World Golf ranking, which is where most observers believe his rightful place is.

 
"Last year was a strange season for me, a lean one by my own standards, but the extended break I have taken has refreshed me and my enthusiasm for the game of golf all over again," said the former world number-two, adding, "I've come close in the Volvo Masters, runner-up three times in a row, and given that a Volvo-sponsored event has quality assured on and off the golf course, I'm looking forward to testing my game against some of the best players on the Tour and also to test driving our Ryder Cup captain's creation in Bahrain – I've heard lots of good things about it."
 
Commenting on his decision to play the Volvo Golf Champions, Olazábal, who won the US Masters in 1994 and 1999 said, “These are incredibly exciting times for European golf and for the European Tour, along with its long-term partner Volvo and IMG to put together a brand new event in the Middle East at a time when the sponsorship market is very tough indeed is clear evidence that our golf circuit is in great shape, on and off the golf course.”
 
Meanwhile, the third member of the Spanish trio to sign up for the inaugural €1.7million (Approx. BHD857,000 / US$2.28million) Volvo Golf Champions is the evergreen Spaniard Miguel Angel Jiménez, winner of 18 European Tour titles including three last season.
 
“A season opening event celebrating the champions from the previous year is a very welcome addition to the European Tour and I am looking forward very much to playing in the Volvo Golf Champions in Bahrain next week.”
 
The fourth player in this latest announcement of star names is also the highest-ranked player in the world to commit to the Volvo Golf Champions so far, world number eight Paul Casey (33), who will be looking to add to his 11 individual wins on the European Tour to date. Casey who won three times in 2006 including the Volvo China Open in Shenzhen and recorded his maiden PGA Tour victory at the 2009 Shell Houston Open, a victory that took him to the third place on the Official World Golf Ranking.
 
Two more ‘Major’ champions will also be on the plane to Bahrain, the prolific Irishman Pádraig Harrington, winner of successive Open Championships in 2007 and 2008, adding the 2008 USPGA Championship for back-to-back ‘Majors,’ and American Todd Hamilton, who lifted the Claret Jug at Royal Troon in 2004.
 
39-year-old Harrington, who qualified as a chartered accountant before turning professional said, “What Volvo has done, and continues to do for European golf is appreciated by the players, and to introduce an event with a Tournament of Champions format as we come out of a tough economic downturn is further evidence that the most enduring relationship between a sponsor and the Tour is alive and well."
 
US star Hamilton becomes the fifth ‘Major’ champion to sign-up for the Bahrain showpiece, following Olazábal, Harrington, New Zealander Michael Campbell, winner of the 2005 US Open Championship, and 1999 Open Championship winner Paul Lawrie of Scotland onto the first tee of the Montrgomerie Course at the Royal Golf Club, Bahrain next week.
 
In addition to the most recent half-dozen star names, Dane Thomas Björn, 2010 Ryder Cup debutant Peter Hanson, 2010 Dubai World Championship winner Robert Karlsson, European Tour Rookie of the Year Matteo Manassero, World Cup winners Eduardo and Francesco Molinari, Ryder Cup captain Montgomerie and the flamboyant Ian Poulter will all be in Bahrain chasing the €283,330 (Approx. BHD143,000 / US$380,000) first prize on offer.
 
Commenting on the strength in depth of the Volvo Golf Champions line-up, with one week to go until the big tee-off, Per Ericsson, President, Volvo Event Management – Golf said, “The reception the Volvo Golf Champions has received from the European Tour players has been a huge vote of confidence and to have the outgoing and incoming Ryder Cup captains and the winners of over 300 European Tour – including eight ‘Majors,’ and the winners of 27 PGA Tour titles already committed confirms the quality of European golf and how highly regarded this special first edition of the tournament is being viewed. And we are looking forward to hosting next year’s season-opening event, with only this season’s champions eligible to play.”
 
He continued, “With a coveted place in the field for the Volvo World Match Play Championship in May on offer to the winner, the quality of the Volvo Golf Champions field is assured, and the support of and confidence in the event by our partners Bahrain Economic Development Board and IMG has been vindicated, so we look forward to the event with enthusiasm and assurance.”
 
The Volvo Golf Champions enjoys the full support of Bahrain Economic Development Board, which has been instrumental in bringing the European Tour to the Kingdom of Bahrain for the first time and positioning the event alongside the Formula 1 Grand Prix in a growing portfolio of world class sporting events.
 
Commenting on the unqualified support of Bahrain in the build-up to its European Tour debut, Shaikh Mohammed Bin Essa Al-Khalifa, Chief Executive, Bahrain Economic Development Board said, “Attracting events such as the Volvo Golf Champions is a central part of the EDB’s remit to promote the Kingdom and our ‘Business Friendly’ environment. This directly supports Bahrain’s Economic Vision 2030, which the EDB is leading under the guidance of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Salman Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, The EDB Chairman.  The vision is designed to drive the private sector as an engine for growth, support further diversification of the economy and ultimately elevate national living standards by creating greater opportunities for Bahrainis.”
 
The Royal Golf Club is also gearing-up for its first European Tour showpiece, General Manager Susan Stevenson saying, “On the Montgomerie Course, we have successfully completed the re-seeding exercise and have had golf course ‘shaper’ Trevor Dormer working with our own Director of Agronomy Mark Hooker and his team, putting the finishing touches to a course that will be in perfect condition for our big European Tour debut.”
 
She adds, “Off the course, our customer relations training programme in preparation for the Volvo Golf Champions is well underway and each and every member of staff is so enthusiastic about welcoming the world of golf to a Royal Golf Club we all take such pride in.”
 
The field for the inaugural Volvo Golf Champions will be completed with the announcement of the six sponsor’s invites, together with details of the groundbreaking Volvo Golf Champions Amateur-Pro Team Competition where some of the club golfers in the World Final of the Volvo World Golf Challenge will get to play with the professionals on Saturday 29th January.

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