A record number of Portuguese players will tee it up in their home open when the Portugal Masters gets under way at Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course in Vilamoura on September 21 to 24.
European Tour players Ricardo Melo Gouveia and Jose Filipe Lima, who represented their country at the 2016 Olympic Games, will be joined by six players nominated for professional tournament invitations by the PGA of Portugal, with an additional two amateur players taking the Portuguese contingent to ten.
Pedro Figueiredo leads the list of players invited to the tournament, which also includes João Carlota, Tiago Cruz, Miguel Gaspar, Hugo Santos and Tomás Santos Silva. Amateurs Tomás Melo Gouveia, brother of Ricardo, and Vítor Lopes complete the impressive list of home based players.
Figueiredo has made the cut three times at the Portugal Masters, and set a national record for result to par on the first occasion in 2011. While still an amateur, and studying and competing at Los Angeles University in California, he finished in 23rd place at 14 under par.
The record was only broken last year by his childhood friend and Portugal’s highest ranked player, Ricardo Melo Gouveia, who finished in 22nd place at 16 under par. In terms of classification, Ricardo Santos still maintains the national record of 16th place at the Portugal Masters in 2012, with a score of six under par.
Figueiredo is confident ahead of his return to Vilamoura, after making the cut at the Portugal Open at Morgado Golf Resort in May.
He said: "I am facing this Portugal Masters in a positive way. It is an opportunity to play in the most important tournament in our country as a professional and I hope to make the most of it.”
Tickets for the 11th Portugal Masters are now on sale including VIP packages, and can be purchased at europeantour.com/tickets
