World class field lines up for Volvo PGA
IN: News | European PGA | Volvo PGA Championship (2003) | Preview | by Bruce Young | 20 May 2003
The Volvo PGA Championship is normally an event that commands the attention of the golfing world or at least shares such with the Colonial but this week the bizarre happening in Texas may well overshadow what is truly one of the great events of the European Tour.
The event dates back to 1955, although its predecessor the PGA Match Play Championship started in 1903 and in fact continued past the arrival of its stroke play counterpart until its eventual demise in 1979.
The tournament has a long line of high quality winners, although it could be argued that the last two have been somewhat from left field. Anders Hansen is the defending champion and Andrew Oldcorn created a real surprise when winning in 2001. Prior to that however, Colin Montgomerie had dominated the event winning on three consecutive occasions from 1998 to 2000. Ian Woosnam, Bernhard Langer, Constantino Rocca and Jose Maria Olazabal have been other recent winners.
It is a great combination of a quality golf course at the home of PGA golf in Britain namely Wentworth's West Course or Burma Road course as it is sometimes known, a gathering of Europe's finest players and one of the richest purses in Europe, this year €3.5 million. First prize is €583,330 or $US680,000 or $A1,040,000.
Wentworth is a fine golf course. Nestled amongst a wealthy housing estate near the Surrey village of Virginia Water it regularly plays host to this event and of course in October every year, the World Match Play this year with new sponsors, HSBC. It also once staged the Ryder Cup back in 1953.
There is an intimate atmosphere at Wentworth that players and gallery alike enjoy. All holes are stand alone and provide that feeling of privacy and intimacy when played.
The course was designed by the great Harry Colt who also designed courses such as Pine Valley, still considered the greatest course in the world and the nearby Sunningdale. Wentworth still commands the most expensive green fee in Europe at $A550.
The field this week reflects the standing of the event. Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Colin Montgomerie, Jose Maria Olazabal, Nick Faldo, Michael Campbell back from an unsuccessful US campaign, Darren Clarke, Paul Casey Eduardo Romero, Paul Casey, Thomas Bjorn are amongst an array of other European Tour stars. Rather surprisingly however, is last week's winner Padraig Harrington's non appearance. He is scheduled to be in the US next week for the Memorial and he clearly wants to time his run to the US Open where he did so well last year. This is a big and significant event on his home tour though.
Adam Scott heads the Australasians along with Campbell, Stephen Leaney, Peter O'Malley, Peter Senior, Jarrod Moseley, Richard Green, Peter Fowler, Nick O'Hern, and Greg Turner. Terry Price and Stephen Scahill are also looking for starts and should get them, while the likes of Brett Rumford, Lucas Parsons and Scott Gardiner are entered but may miss out.
