Reflecting the recent economic boom in Macau and the increasing prestige of its major annual golf tournament, this year’s Venetian Macau Open will boast the highest prize purse in the history of the event. Sponsored by The Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel for the third year in a row, the field will compete for US$900,000, a 12.5 percent increase on last year’s purse.
Since its inauguration in 1998, The Macau Open has welcomed some top names in the golfing world like Lee Westwood, Colin Montgomerie, Nick Faldo, Fred Couples, Vijay Singh, Padraig Harrington, Thongchai Jaidee, and, in 2013, Ernie Els.
And this year, the big news is the return of Els to have another shot at the tournament, after missing out last year to Australian Scott Hend. Making his debut at the Venetian Macau Open last year, Els tied for third place at 12-under-par 272, four shots behind Hend.
The South African has an impressive 70 professional career victories to date, including two on the Asian Tour (2005 BMW Asian Open in China and 2005 Qatar Masters), four Major Championship wins (US Open in 1994 and 1997, and The Open Championship in 2002 and 2012), two World Golf Championship events and seven World Matchplay titles. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011.
“I am really excited to be coming back to Macau,” Els said. “I could not quite claim the victory in 2013 and I’m looking forward to taking another crack at it. I have always enjoyed playing in this part of the world and especially to play at the Venetian Macau Open which is one of the most prestigious events on the Asian Tour. I know that Lee (Westwood) and Colin (Montgomerie) have won here in the past and I hope to emulate them and lift the trophy this year!”
Els will once again be facing tough competition from Scott Hend, who has confirmed that he will be back to defend his title from last year. That victory was his fifth Asian Tour title and completed a hat trick of wins in 2013 which propelled him to second place on the Asian Tour Order of Merit.
“I’m really looking forward to defending the title. The Venetian Macau Open is such a great event in such a great city and the players love it. You always get a strong Asian Tour field so it’s a good battle over a challenging course,” commented Hend.
Other big names on the play card include Miguel Angel Jiménez of Spain and Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee. Jiménez is a four time winner of the Hong Kong Open (2004, 2007, 2012 and 2013) and will be making his debut in Macau this year.
Thongchai is a three-time Asian Tour Order of Merit winner (2001, 2004 and 2009) with 13 Asian Tour wins on his CV.
China’s No. 1 golfer, Liang Wen-chong and two-time Macau Open champion Zhang Lian-wei have also confirmed they will compete. The 36-year-old Liang hopes to join Zhang as a champion in Macau after making history in June when he became the first Chinese golfer to play in all four Major Championships when he teed off at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst.
His compatriot, Zhang has played in every Macau Open since the tournament’s inauguration in 1998, only missing the 2003 edition because of injury. With five Asian Tour victories to his name, the Asian Tour veteran is also the only player to win consecutive titles in Macau, claiming victory in 2001 and 2002. He hopes to add to that tally this year:
“Every year, I am excited to play at the Venetian Macau Open where I have been able to play well over the years. My back-to-back victories there are important in my professional career. This year we’ve got great field so it’s going to be a tough tournament.”
Jose Tavares, President of the Macau Sport Development Board (MSDB), co-organisers of the event along with the Golf Association of Macau, added his thoughts: “Everyone involved in the tournament is delighted with the continued growth of the Venetian Macau Open. The event is going from strength to strength with prize money increasing year on year, which in turn attracts an ever more competitive field. We are now firmly established as one of the leading sporting and social events in the annual Macau calendar. There is no better opportunity to showcase Macau’s world-class event hosting capability to audiences around the world.”
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Jointly organised by Macau Sport Development Board of Macau SAR Government (MSDB) and Golf Association of Macau, The Venetian Macau Open is sanctioned by both the Asian Tour and the Golf Association of Macau.
Live action across all four days of the Venetian Macau Open will be beamed on the Asian Tour television platform, reaching 650 million homes across the globe.
The tournament will be played between October 23 and 26 at the Macau Golf & Country Club, a course that contains one of the most spectacular par threes on the Asian Tour, a 238-yard hole that plunges 140 metres from tee to green.
Entry to the Venetian Macau Open is free.
