April 3 – 6, 2014
La Reserva de Sotogrande Club de Golf
Prize fund: €600,000
Alejandro Cañizares will seek to emulate the achievements of his illustrious compatriot Sergio Garcia by winning the inaugural NH Collection Open on home soil this week.
Garcia was the last Spaniard to win back-to-back stroke play titles on The European Tour, following up his win in the 2011 Castelló Masters with victory in the 2011 Andalucía Masters.
Cañizares’ home advantage – the World Number 92 lives 15 minutes from La Reserva de Sotogrande – and current form – he won the Trophée Hassan II on his last start, have seen him installed as the pre-tournament favourite.
Alejandro Cañizares
“I feel happy to be playing at home, as I only live 15 minutes’ drive from La Reserva. The wind will be the big factor this week. It either blows from the east (Levante) or from the west (Poniente), and it’s like you are playing two different courses – it’s probably tougher when it blows from the west.
“I’m very familiar with these winds as I play often in the area, but I don’t think that will be a big advantage this week as many of the players come from windy countries.”
Carlos del Moral
“Coming from the Qualifying School, you learn how to hold your score together and keep calm under pressure.
“Moving to the south of Spain has improved the quality of my practice. Down here I have better courses; my coach, José Carlos Gutiérrez, lives closer; and my girlfriend, who is Swedish, loves it here.”
Jorge Campillo
“I had a strong start to this season, finishing second twice second and in the top 25 five times. I’m driving well but missing my irons to the left so I need to sort things out with José Carlos, my coach, before the firs6t round on Thursday.”
NH Collection Open talking points
• The NH Collection Open is one of four new stroke play events on The 2014 European Tour International Schedule. The other three are: Nedbank Golf Challenge, Made in Denmark and D+D REAL Czech Masters.
• American Cabell Robinson designed La Reserva de Sotogrande Club de Golf course. The last European Tour event to be staged at one of his courses was the Volvo World Match Play Championship at Finca Cortesin Golf Club, in 2009, 2011 and 2012.
• The NH Collection Open is a dual-ranking event between The European Tour and the European Challenge Tour, and prize money will count for both The Race to Dubai and Challenge Tour Rankings. The prize fund is capped to €450,000 for the Challenge Tour Rankings.
• The NH Collection Open is the 25th different European Tour event to be played in Spain.
• Alejandro Cañizares is bidding to win back-to-back European Tour titles following his Trophée Hassan II success in the last stroke play event on the International Schedule. The last Spanish player to achieve this was Sergio Garcia (Castelló Masters and Andalucia Masters in 2011). Three Spanish players before Garcia won consecutive European Tour titles – Seve Ballesteros, Manuel Piñero and José María Olazábal.
• European Senior Tour Member Santiago Luna is the oldest player in the field, aged 51, and will make his 597th European Tour appearance. This takes him to joint seventh in the list of most events played.
