THREE SCOTS IN FIELD FOR 2013 VOLVO CHAMPIONS

NEWS RELEASE FROM IMG

Three-time Major winner, Pádraig Harrington, confirmed his entry yesterday afternoon as entries closed for the 2013 Volvo Golf Champions. The European Tour’s elite year-opening ‘tournament of champions’ for European Tour winners only will have a field of 35 players who have won 234 European Tour titles between them including 14 Major titles.

Harrington qualifies along with along with Darren Clarke, Retief Goosen, Colin Montgomerie, José María Olazábal and Thomas Björn as a current Tour Member with more than ten European Tour victories.  

They will compete against 28 European Tour champions from 2012 in the year-opening Volvo Golf Champions at the Durban Country Club from the 10th to the 13th January 2013 where players will compete for a prize fund of €2 million (approx. R22.5 million).

Five South African’s have qualified for the Volvo Golf Champions this year with 27-time winner on the European Tour, Ernie Els, heading the strong home challenge along with defending Champion, Branden Grace, the afore-mentioned, Retief Goosen, 2010 Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen and first time winner on the European Tour, Jbe Kruger.

They will face a tough challenge from a field that is represented by a total of 16 nationalities including Matteo Manassero, Miguel Ángel Jiménez,Jeev Milkha Singh, Nicolas Colsaerts, Paul Casey, Peter Hanson, Paul Lawrie, Francesco Molinari and Henrik Stenson,

Harrington, who won the 2012 PGA Grand Slam of Golf, explained:

“I was playing really well towards the end of 2012 and now that I am part-way through my winter training programme,  I am looking forward to getting out on Tour and competing. 

"I think this is an ideal tournament to start my year off where there is a limited elite field to test myself against, no cut and beautiful weather. It is a great event and I am very much looking forward to returning to South Africa in January.”

As Christmas approaches, two-time US Open winner Retief Goosen also shared some positive news as he continues his recovery from the back operation he had in August. He explained:

“Everything has been going really well with my rehabilitation and I am back out on the course enjoying playing golf with my family and friends. I am confident I will be ready to compete come the Volvo Champions and I am very excited to play my first tournament back at the Durban Country Club in front of my home fans.”

The renowned Durban Country Club was recently voted one of the Top 100 golf courses in the world by Golf Magazine USA and boasts an impressive résumé having hosted the South African Open on no less than 17 occasions.

 

2013 Volvo Golf Champions Qualification Update

 

Category (a):
Winners of all the fully sanctioned and co-sanctioned tournaments listed below:
	1	Volvo Golf Champions	Branden Grace
	2	Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship	Robert Rock
	3	Commercialbank Qatar Masters	Paul Lawrie
	4	Omega Dubai Desert Classic	Rafael Cabrera-Bello
	5	Avantha Masters	Jbe Kruger
	6	Open de Andalucia de Golf	Julien Quesne
	7	Trophee Hassan II	Michael Hoey
	8	Sicilian Open	Thorbjorn Olesen
	9	Maybank Malaysian Open	Louis Oosthuizen
	10	Ballantine's Championship	Bernd Wiesberger
	11	Reale Seguros Open de Espana	Francesco Molinari
	12	Madeira Islands Open	Ricardo Santos
	13	Volvo World Match Play Championship	Nicolas Colsaerts
	14	ISPS Handa Wales Open	Thongchai Jaidee
	15	Saint-Omer Open presented by Neuflize OBC	Darren Fichardt
	16	BMW International Open	Danny Willett
	17	Irish Open	Jamie Donaldson
	18	Alstom Open de France	Marcel Siem
	19	Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open	Jeev Milkha Singh
	20	The Open	Ernie Els
	21	Omega European Masters	Richie Ramsay
	22	KLM Open	Peter Hanson
	23	Italian Open	Gonzalo Fdez-Castano
	24	Portugal Masters	Shane Lowry
	25	Barclays Singapore Open	Matteo Manassero
	26	Hong Kong Open	Miguel Angel Jimenez
	27	South African Open	Henrik Stenson
	28	Nelson Mandela Invitational	Scott Jamieson
Category (b):
Past winners of the Volvo Golf Champions under 50 years of age on the first day of the tournament.
	29		Paul Casey
Category (c):
PlPlayers with 10 or more official Race to Dubai/European Tour Order of Merit tournament wins under 50* years of age on the first day of the tournament.
	30		Colin Montgomerie
	31		Padraig Harrington
	32		Retief Goosen
	33		Darren Clarke
	34		Thomas Bjorn
	35		José Maria Olazabal