- Sebastian Friedrichsen won the Open de Portugal with a tournament-record total of 28-under.
- The 23-year-old Dane finished three strokes ahead of Marc Warren.
- The victory moved Friedrichsen into the top-10 of the Road to Mallorca.
Sebastian Friedrichsen claimed his first HotelPlanner Tour title with a tournament-record 28-under total at the Open de Portugal on PGA Aroeira Lisboa’s No.1 course.
The 23-year-old Dane finished three strokes clear of Scotland’s Marc Warren, who had led going into the final round. Julien Sale finished third, with Matthew Southgate and MJ Daffue completing the top-5.
Friedrichsen played his way into contention with a string of back-nine birdies.
The win moved him into the top-10 of the Road to Mallorca Rankings as the season entered its closing stages. The HotelPlanner Tour feeds into the DP World Tour, with the top 20 in the season-long rankings earning promotion.
Southgate had already claimed his maiden title on the circuit with an eight-shot Swiss Challenge victory in June. Warren finished joint second at that event, while Friedrichsen tied ninth.
Open de Portugal returns to Aroeira
PGA Aroeira Lisboa welcomed the Open de Portugal for the first time in three decades. This was the 64th edition of a tournament established in 1953, which formed part of the European Tour’s founding schedule in 1972 and remained on the main tour until 2010.
Two-time Masters winner José María Olazábal also returned to the event, this time as caddie for his nephew Joseba Torres, 29 years after competing as a player in 1997.
“It has been an honour to welcome the Open de Portugal back to Aroeira 30 years on from our first staging of the tournament, and to see it deliver a week of this quality and excitement only reinforces what we always believed this venue was capable of hosting,” said Nuno Sepulveda, co-CEO of the resort’s management company, Details – Sports, Hospitality, Leisure.
Amateur golfers had their own challenge at the par-4 fourth hole, where the Beat the Pro activity asked them to match or better a professional’s tee shot. No participant managed it during the week.
Aroeira’s courses and planned hotel
Situated 25km south of Lisbon, the 36-hole resort is Portugal’s only PGA National venue. Frank Pennink designed PGA Aroeira No.1, which opened in 1973 and runs through pine forest. Donald Steel designed its second course, PGA Aroeira No.2.
Both courses have undergone recent maintenance programmes. Details took over management of the resort three years ago, and Aroeira is one of 14 golf venues in its portfolio.
During tournament week, the Jardim Engomado project, developed with CERCIZIMBRA, involved participants from the organisation in planting native species and restoring green areas. PGA Aroeira also implemented measures with Details and Ecoterrae aimed at achieving sustainable-event certification.
Further investment includes the Aroeira Collections Hotel, scheduled to open in 2027 between the resort’s two championship courses, with 138 one- and two-bedroom apartments.
Related: Quinta do Lago Joins GOLF.com’s Top 100 Resorts in the World
Simon Bale
Simon Bale is the publisher of Golf Today. A low single-figure handicap golfer, he was previously a major shareholder and course reviewer for Top100GolfCourses.com for over a decade, starting in 2010. Through this role, he developed extensive knowledge of golf course design and architecture while playing more than 300 courses worldwide.