Woods Lined up for Turkey's European Tour Bow

Image (CNN) -- World No. 1 Tiger Woods will take to the tee at the inaugural European Tour event in Turkey, a tournament with a bumper prize fund of $7 million. The Turkish Airlines Open will be played between November 7-10 and will form part of the new Final Series, the climax European Tour's big-money Race to Dubai. Fourteen-time major winner Woods first played in Turkey last year at the eight-man World Golf Finals, a precursor to this year's event being held at the Montgomerie Maxx Royal in Antalya.

"I had a great time during my first visit to Turkey," Woods, who has already won four times on the PGA Tour in 2013, told the European Tour's official website.

"Turkish Airlines, the Turkish Golf Federation and the fans who came to watch made it a really special event and I'm looking forward to playing there once again."

Last year's unsanctioned event at the Antalya Golf Club was won by world No. 4 Justin Rose.

"It is an honor to welcome back the world's No. 1 golfer to what is, in our opinion, the best golfing destination in Europe," added Turkish Golf Federation president Ahmet Ali Agaoglu.

"We are thrilled to have the support of Turkish Airlines and are looking forward to once again proving that Turkey is more than capable of hosting world-class sporting occasions."

The new event is one of four which boast a combined prize fund of $30.5m and serve as the finale to the European Tour season.

The $7 million BMW Masters, the US$8.5 million WGC -- HSBC Champions tournament --and the $8 million DP World Tour Championship in Dubai are the other three events in the Final Series.

"We are proud to support a top-class European Tour event and delighted to see Tiger competing in Turkey for the second year," said Turkish Airlines' chief marketing officer Faruk Cizmecioglu.
Last modified onSaturday, 06 May 2017 10:07