Portugal Invitational: How to watch, pre-tournament notes, storylines, more
2 Min Read
Ernie Els emerges victorious at Mitsubishi Electric Championship
PGA TOUR Champions heads to Portugal this week for the inaugural playing of the Portugal Invitational. The Els Club Vilamoura, designed by tournament host and World Golf Hall of Fame member Ernie Els, will stage the 54-hole event.
This is the third of four international events for the 2026 season on PGA TOUR Champions as the Tour previously visited Morocco and Scotland, and will close with a trip to Canada in late August.
The Els Club Vilamoura opened in July of 2025 as a redesign of Victoria Golf Course, which hosted the Portugal Masters on the DP World Tour from 2007 to 2022. Past winners Richard Green (2010) and World Golf Hall of Fame member Padraig Harrington (2016) are in the 2026 Portugal Invitational field.
The only prior PGA TOUR-sanctioned event to be held in Portugal was the 2005 World Cup of Golf, staged at Victoria Clube de Golfe. Notables who competed in that two-man team event who are in this week's field are Charles Schwab Cup leader Stewart Cink, No. 2 Zach Johnson, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Harrington. Cink and Johnson are the lone multi-time winners on PGA TOUR Champions in 2026 with four and three victories, respectively.
In addition to Els and Harrington, Hall of Famers Retief Goosen, Bernhard Langer and Colin Montgomerie are in the field. Langer holds the PGA TOUR Champions record for most wins with 47. Other notables include two-time Charles Schwab Cup champion (2022, 2024) Steven Alker, Stephen Ames, 2011 Open Champion Darren Clarke, 2001 Open Champion David Duval and 1997 Open Champion Justin Leonard.
How to follow (all times ET)
Television:
- Friday-Sunday: 9 a.m.-noon, Golf Channel
Tournament facts
- Course: The Els Club Vilamoura; par 72, 7,335 yards
- Defending champion: N/A (inaugural event)
- Purse: $3 million
- Winner's share: $450,000
Note: Using player performance data from ShotLink powered by CDW, the PGA TOUR has created this story using AWS Gen AI technology. While we strive for accuracy and quality, please note that the information provided may not be entirely error-free.
