Torrance, Casey, Villegas to play MasterCard Masters
IN: News | Australasian PGA | MasterCard Masters (2005) | General | 02 Nov 2005
Scotland's Sam Torrance, England's Paul Casey and young Colombian Camilo Villegas will be heading to Melbourne to play in the 2005 MasterCard Masters from December 8-11. The overseas trio will join a strong list of Australian players at Huntingdale Golf Club for one of Australia's premier golf tournaments.
Former European Ryder Cup captain Sam Torrance's participation in the MasterCard Masters will come a week after his appearance in the Australian PGA Championship. He actually won the Australian PGA title back in 1980 at Royal Melbourne beating Seve Ballesteros. The Scot has won 21 times on the European Tour and has won three titles this year on the European Senior Tour as well. One of Torrance's greatest moments came in 2002 when he successfully captained Europe to victory over the USA in the Ryder Cup at The Belfry in England. Europe regained the Ryder Cup on that occasion. Torrance, a pioneer of the long putter, was a regular player for Europe in the Ryder Cup in the 1980's and 1990's.
Casey, ranked 65, is a four-time winner on the European Tour and one of the brightest young talents in world golf. The 28-year-old won this year's TCL Classic in China in a playoff. Last year, he teamed with Luke Donald to win the WGC-World Cup defeating hosts Spain narrowly. He also played in the 2004 Ryder Cup and helped the European Team retain the trophy in fine style.
Casey made an impressive debut at the US Masters last year tying for sixth after entering the final round in contention. The Englishman has won in Australia before – at the 2003 ANZ Championship at New South Wales Golf Club and was second in that event in 2004. Casey was one of the world's best amateurs winning the English Amateur twice and several American collegiate events before turning professional in 2000. He clinched the 2001 Rookie of the Year award in Europe after winning the Scottish PGA Championship.
Camilo Villegas, 23, is a tremendous South American talent and has recently claimed his US PGA Tour card after posting nine top-10 results on the Nationwide Tour to finish 13th on the money list. Villegas was invited to play in last year's MasterCard Masters at Huntingdale and tied for 30th place. He impressed as well in other Australasian events last summer finishing 13th Centenary Australian Open, 10th Heineken Classic and 8th New Zealand PGA Championship. Villegas learnt the game from his father in Medellin and went to the University of Florida where he excelled, winning eight collegiate events to eclipse the previous record held by Chris DiMarco.
World No. 8 Adam Scott, 2003 winner Robert Allenby, Stuart Appleby, defending champion Richard Green, Nick O'Hern, Rod Pampling, two-time winner Peter Senior, Brett Rumford and Greg Chalmers are other prominent names confirmed for this year's MasterCard Masters.
Source - IMG
Photo - Anthony Powter
