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Portugal Invitational 2026: PGA Tour Champions Makes History in Vilamoura

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The PGA Tour Champions is coming to Portugal. From 31 July to 2 August 2026, The Els Club Vilamoura hosts the Portugal Invitational — the first PGA Tour-sanctioned individual stroke play event on Portuguese soil, and the first PGA Tour Champions event staged anywhere in Europe.

Portugal Invitational 2026

A natural milestone for a region that has spent decades building one of the continent’s most compelling golf destinations.

What the Portugal Invitational Actually Is

The PGA Tour Champions is the professional circuit for golfers aged 50 and over — populated by Major winners and some of the most recognisable names in the modern game.

The Portugal Invitational carries a $3 million purse and a field of 78 players drawn from PGA Tour Champions members, World Golf Hall of Fame inductees, and Legends Tour players. It sits within a three-week European swing alongside the ISPS Handa Senior Open and the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship. (PGA Tour Champions official announcement)

The Field: A Who’s Who of Senior Golf

Bernhard Langer — holder of 47 PGA Tour Champions wins and six Charles Schwab Cups — heads a field that also includes three-time Major champion Pádraig Harrington, two-time Masters champion José María Olazábal, host Ernie Els, and Colin Montgomerie.

Retief Goosen, David Duval, Thomas Bjørn, and Ángel Cabrera are also confirmed. A Pro-Am is part of the week, giving amateur participants direct access to players of this calibre. (Golf Circus)

The Els Club Vilamoura: The Course at the Centre of It All

Els Club Vilamoura Portugal Invitational 2026

The Els Club occupies the former site of the Victoria Golf Course — an Arnold Palmer design that hosted the DP World Tour’s Portugal Masters from 2007 to 2022, producing winners including Shane Lowry and Pádraig Harrington.

Redesigned by Ernie Els, one nine retains its original routing while the other is an entirely new layout. The result is the fifth Els Club in the world and the first in Europe. (Golfweek via Yahoo Sports)

Why Vilamoura Was Always Going to Host Something Like This

Vilamoura is consistently ranked among the finest golf resorts in Continental Europe. Five golf courses, premium accommodation — including the recently arrived Hyatt Regency — and a food scene that takes itself seriously.

Vilamoura Marina View
Faro Airport sits 25 minutes away, with direct routes to 89 airports across 20 countries. Transfers and car hire are easily arranged. The tournament is backed by a five-year partnership between PGA Tour Champions, Arrow Global Group, Turismo de Portugal and Turismo do Algarve — this is not a one-off. (Portugal Invitational)

Planning Around the Portugal Invitational

Tournament week runs 27 July to 2 August, with the 54-hole competition concluding on 2 August. Spectator access and ticketing details will be confirmed closer to the event.

Whether the plan is to watch the professionals and then play the same course, or simply use the tournament as the nudge to finally book that Algarve golf holiday, the summer of 2026 has handed you a rather good excuse.

Jordan Spieth at the PGA Championship: One Major Away from Immortality

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Golf’s Most Exclusive Club

Six golfers in history have won all four major championships. Gene Sarazen. Ben Hogan. Gary Player. Jack Nicklaus. Tiger Woods. Rory McIlroy. Jordan Spieth has won three of them — and this week at Aronimink Golf Club, he gets his chance to join that list.

Jordan Spieth Chasing Grand Slam

“If I can win one more tournament in my life, it would obviously be this one,” Spieth said ahead of the 108th PGA Championship. The man knows what is at stake. So does everyone else. (PGA Tour)

A Game Trending in the Right Direction

Spieth arrives at Aronimink feeling good about where his game is. He led the field in strokes gained off the tee at last week’s Truist Championship — and at a Donald Ross course where precision from the tee is everything, that is exactly the statistic you want heading into a major week. The greens are undulating, the 180 bunkers demand respect, and the par-threes separate the contenders from the field. Spieth, at his best, is built for all of it.

108th PGA Championship Trophy

“My game has been getting better and better. It’s plenty good to have a chance to win,” he said at his Aronimink press conference. He has had stretches this season where he has led the tour in multiple statistical categories. The pieces are there. Aronimink is the week to put them together. (PGA Championship)

The Course Sets Up Well

Aronimink rewards the things Spieth does best. Past winners at this venue have been defined by elite putting — touch, trajectory, and reading greens under pressure. That is Spieth’s signature. A player who can drive it straight and hole putts when it matters has always had a chance here. Right now, Spieth is doing both. (Golf Digest)

Aronimink 108th PGA Championship

Gary Player — the only man to have won a major at Aronimink, claiming the 1962 PGA Championship on these very fairways — believes Spieth has everything he needs. “Jordan has the talent to return to world number one,” Player said. “He simply needs to reconnect with his fundamentals.” High praise from a nine-time major champion who knows this course better than anyone alive. (Golf Magic)

The Moment, the Narrative, the List

Rory McIlroy completed his own career Grand Slam at Augusta just last month — and Spieth has spoken openly about the inspiration it provided. “The easiest way to do that is to not try to, in a weird way. Just go out and get ready for the first hole, get a good game plan in and attack it the way it needs to be attacked,” he said. That kind of clarity — knowing exactly what you want and exactly how not to chase it — is the mark of a player who has been in big moments before. (Sky Sports)

He has won the Masters. He has won the US Open. He has won The Open Championship. The PGA Championship is the only one left. The narrative is written. The stage is set. Aronimink opens Thursday.

If the golf is pulling you towards a screen this week, we understand entirely. And when you are ready to swap the sofa for a fairway, Tee Times will have your Algarve golf holiday waiting — courses, transfers, and deals included.

Portugal Makes Its Mark at the French Pitch & Putt Open

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Hugo Espírito Santo and Tomás Ribeiro excel at a wet and competitive weekend near Lyon

The 22nd Open International de France de Pitch & Putt brought 71 players to UGOLF Mionnay, just 20 kilometres north of Lyon, for three rounds across the 8th to 10th of May. Portugal sent a four-man contingent — and came away with a podium finish.

Though it was not the biggest tournament in the golf calendar, it was, exactly the kind of result that reminds you how broad and deep the game runs beneath the surface of the DP World Tour. (Federação Portuguesa de Golfe)

Open International de France

Third Place in Testing Conditions

Hugo Espírito Santo, representing Quinta das Lágrimas, and Tomás Ribeiro of Paredes Golf Club closed with a combined total of 144 shots, 18 under par, to share third place. The final round was played in persistent rain, with the top seven players separated by just two shots entering the day — conditions that test patience as much as technique.

Espírito Santo, a former champion of this event in 2023, showed the composure of a player who has been here before. Ribeiro matched him card for card, returning three identical rounds of 48 — a consistency that is harder to achieve than it looks across 54 holes of strokeplay.

The Winner and the Field

The title went to Noa Auch-Roy, a young French player from the host club, who posted a composed 47-47-47 for 141, 21 under par — three shots clear of the field and arguably the performance of the weekend. The runner-up spot went to Spaniard José Maria Ortiz, the defending champion from the 2025 edition at Le Puy-en-Velay, on 143.

The field of 71 also included players from the Netherlands, Italy, Algeria, and Benin — a reminder that Pitch & Putt has a genuinely international following, particularly across southern Europe, where the format has been growing steadily for two decades.

The Other Portuguese Results

Portugal Pitch and Putt Team
Matteo Balzer, playing out of Amendoeira Golf Resort in the Algarve, finished a creditable sixth on 148, 14 under par. Arnaldo Paredes of Quinta das Lágrimas closed in 13th on 160, two under. Four Portuguese starters, four finishers — and three of them inside the top fifteen. By any measure, a strong showing for the national squad on foreign soil.

A Format Worth Knowing

Pitch & Putt is played on a par-54 course, with holes typically ranging from 40 to 90 metres. Every shot is either a pitch or a putt — no drivers, no long irons, no excuses. The format strips the game back to its most transferable skills: touch, trajectory, and reading a green. Portugal has a long tradition in the discipline, and the Algarve in particular has produced players capable of competing at the highest international level.

For the visiting golfer, it is also worth knowing that many of the region’s leading resorts offer Pitch & Putt facilities alongside their full-length layouts — a useful option on a rest day, or for travelling companions who are new to the game.

The Algarve remains one of Europe’s most versatile golf destinations, with courses and formats to suit every level. Whether you are chasing a competitive round on one of the region’s championship layouts, or looking for something more relaxed, Tee Times Golf Holidays can put together a package that fits — tee times, hotels, and transfers all taken care of.