Juan Quiros leads the home challenge at the Benahavis Senior Masters next week, alongside three Spanish former Ryder Cup players, as he goes in search of his first career win in Spain.
There are reasons for the Spaniard to be hopeful in Benahavis as he enters the week on the back of five consecutive top 20 finishes, including a victory at the Cannes Mougins Masters, where he beat Des Smyth in a play-off.
That was the fourth time Quiros has won on the European Senior Tour in six seasons but he is still searching for that first victory on Spanish soil and will be hoping he can improve on his finish at the Benahavis Senior Masters last year, when he finished fourth as Boonchu Ruangkit sealed a seven shot victory at La Quinta Golf and Country Club.
Quiros’ best finish on The European Tour was in Spain at the 1994 Turespaña Open de Tenerife, where he finished in second place as David Gilford emerged victorious. He is joined in Spain by three home-grown former Ryder Cup players in José Maria Cañizares, Antonio Garrido and Manuel Piñero.
Cañizares played on four Ryder Cup teams (1981, 1983, 1985 and 1989), once proving a hero when, in 1989 at The Belfry, his putt to beat Ken Green on the 18thensured a 14-14 draw which kept The Ryder Cup in European hands.
Piñero was also a member of the 1985 team, claiming four points out of five as the European Team clinched the title for the first time on a score of 16½ to 11½.
He will have local knowledge on his side this week, having designed the La Quinta Course which hosts the Benahavis Senior Masters for the third consecutive year.
Garrido is another former Ryder Cup star, having played alongside Seve Ballesteros to become the first Continental Europeans to play in golf’s marquee team competition.
Another Spaniard in the field this week is Domingo Hospital, who sits 53rdon the Senior Tour Order of Merit and has yet to win this year, having claimed the Sicilian Senior Open with a play-off victory over Horacio Carbonetti in 2010.
Spanish PGA Senior Champion José Davila, Victor Garcia, Salvador Ruiz and amateur Borja Queipo de Llano complete the home challenge in Spain this week and they will be joined by a host of stars including former Ryder Cup Captain Mark James, Senior Tour Order of Merit leader Peter Fowler and all-time Senior Tour leading money winner Carl Mason, the 2009 champion at La Quinta.
