Record prize money of £2,000,000 (approx 3,130,000 euro) has been confirmed for the 2001 Volvo PGA Championship in which Colin Montgomerie will be seeking a fourth successive victory on the West Course at Wentworth Club on May 25-28.
The substantial £500,000 (approx 782,000 euro) increase reflects the importance of the Volvo PGA Championship on The European Tour International Schedule and underlines the significant role Volvo – the Tour’’s first and only overall corporate sponsor – continues to play in the development of the Tour. In 2000, prize money for the Volvo Masters was increased from £1,000,000 to £2,000,000. Volvo also remain “Official Car” to The European Tour.
The first prize cheque of £333,330 (approx 521,500 euro) for the 2001 Volvo PGA Championship is a further landmark for the hugely successful Volvo sponsorship of multiple events on The European Tour International Schedule which also includes the Volvo Scandinavian Masters. The runners-up cheque for the 2001 Volvo PGA Championship will be £222,220 (approx 345,000 euro) with the third and fourth placed players receiving £125,200 (approx 195,000 euro) and £100,000 (approx 156,000 euro) respectively. The player in tenth place will earn £40,000 (approx 62,500 euro).
Ken Schofield, Executive Director of The European Tour, said: “This significant increase places the Volvo PGA Championship, like the Volvo Masters, within reasonable and acceptable reach of the four major championships and three World Golf Championships. The Tour appreciates Volvo’’s continuing support and valued resource. Their commitment to quality and excellence in every aspect of business has been invaluable in the development of The European Tour, and the three outstanding tournaments played under Volvo’’s title sponsorship fully epitomise these very qualities.”
Mel Pyatt, President and Chief Executive Officer of Volvo Event Management, said: “The start of a new millennium has provided additional impetus to all three Volvo-sponsored events on The European Tour International Schedule, and we have set the prize money for the 2001 Volvo PGA Championship at a level which reflects our desire to acknowledge this special occasion and our continuing support for the Members of The European Tour. The enduring success of the Volvo PGA Championship is a reflection of the close partnership between Volvo and The European Tour which has been built on a mutual long-term strategy of quality and commitment to excellence.”
Since the inception of the special relationship between The European Tour and Volvo in 1988, the total prize fund for the Volvo PGA Championship has grown from £300,000 (approx 420,000 euro) to its new impressive level of £2,000,000 (approx 3,130,000 euro). Montgomerie, the winner of a record seven successive Volvo Order of Merits prior to Lee Westwood graduating to Number One in 2000, has totalled £666,678 (approx 1,000,000 euro) in winning each of the last three Volvo PGA Championships. Montgomerie, who has won seven Volvo sponsored tournaments in total since claiming the Volvo Masters in 1993, captured the 2000 Volvo PGA Championship with a 17 under par total of 271 – three ahead of Darren Clarke, Andrew Coltart and Westwood – then said: “This is our flagship event, and it is a great honour for me to win the title three years in succession. The standard of golf in Europe is very, very good and I have to play at my best to stay up there.”
This will be the 47th PGA Championship – sponsored by Volvo since 1988 - which was first played in 1955 when Ken Bousfield won at Pannal. It will be the 21st time that the Championship has been contested at Wentworth Club and a victory by Montgomerie would enable him to equal the record four wins achieved by Nick Faldo (1978, 1980, 1981, 1989).
Peter Alliss (1957, 1962, 1965) and Bernhard Langer (1987, 1993, 1995) have won the title three times and Tony Jacklin, Arnold Palmer, Seve Ballesteros, Ian Woosnam and José Maria Olazábal, all winners of major championships, have also held the title.
