Padraig Harrington, Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott and YE Yang will be among the star names competing for an increased prize fund of US$6million at this year’s Barclays Singapore Open.
With an increase of US$ 1 million in prize money, The Barclays Singapore Open is now among the richest tournaments in Asia and will be co-sanctioned between The European and Asian Tours and the outstanding Sentosa Golf Club from November 11-14.
The event takes on a new format this year, with a field of 204 players competing on both The Serapong and The Tanjong Courses for the first two days, after which the halfway cut is made and the final two rounds taking place on The Serapong course at the weekend.
“We are expecting to see the finest edition of the Barclays Singapore Open,” said Robert Morrice, Chairman & CEO Asia Pacific, Barclays PLC, “and we are excited about growing the tournament with an increased field of players from around the world as a cornerstone of our brand strategy.”
In an exciting development last year Barclays announced they would continue their sponsorship of what is Asia’s richest national Open until at least 2012. They have been title sponsor since 2006.
The top 75 players from the Asian Tour and top 75 from The European Tour will make up the bulk of the field. In a move that will truly open up the tournament to the whole Asia Pacific region 32 positions have been allocated to members of the Mercedes-Benz Tour (7), the PGA Tour of Australasia (5), the Japan Golf Tour Organisation (5), the China Golf Association Tour (5), the Korean Golf Tour (5) and the Professional Golf Tour of India (5).
Ten places will be for sponsor invites while four amateurs from the Singapore Golf Association and three professionals from the Singapore Professional Golfers’ Association will play.
“We are proud to be the home of the Barclays Singapore Open and delighted to have the opportunity to showcase both our championship courses to the world,” said Mike Barclay, CEO of Sentosa Development Corporation.
“Some of the best players in the world have complimented the look and feel of the tournament, comparing it to a Major set up. This event has shown that Sentosa Golf Club can deliver one of the best championship courses in Asia, if not the world.”
Nearly 40,000 fans came to watch last year when England’s Ian Poulter tasted victory and with the world’s best players returning in November that figured is expected to be surpassed.
Crowd favourite Mickelson has competed in the last three Barclays Singapore Opens with his best finish coming in 2008 when he finished ninth.
The American will arrive in Singapore as the reigning US Masters Champion - which he won in April for the third time. He has claimed four Majors in total and 38 US PGA Tour events.
Scott has an outstanding record on The Serapong Course. In 2006, he beat Ernie Els from South Africa to become the first player to successfully defend Singapore’s national Open. A year earlier he won the title by seven strokes.
He nearly made it three in a row after finishing third in 2007, while victory narrowly eluded him in 2009 when he came joint third.
Harrington lost by one stroke to Indian Jeev Milkha Singh in the 2008 Barclays Singapore Open.
That came at the end of a year that saw him reach stardom by winning both the Open Championship and US PGA Championship. He also claimed the Open in 2007 and has truly established himself as one of Europe’s finest ever golfers.
Korean star Yang will be making his first appearance in the Barclays Singapore Open.
He shot to fame last year when he became the first Asian to win a Major by overtaking American Tiger Woods in the final round of the US PGA Championship.
George O’Grady, Chief Executive of The European Tour, said: “With tournaments in Europe, Asia and the USA, Barclays’ commitment to golf is on a truly global scale. This year’s increased prize fund in Singapore, one of the world’s most thriving cities, is further evidence of their belief in the value of our product. With a world class field and excellent conditions, the Barclays Singapore Open is operating at the very highest level of our sport and we look forward to another exciting edition of the event in November.”
