2024-04-14 14:55:16
Speaking at a press conference organized at the Royal Golf Dar Es Salam in Rabat to present these two sporting events, the president of the PGA Champions Tour, Miller Brady stressed that the attractiveness of the Hassan II Trophy for the best players in golf at the global level demonstrates the influence and reputation that this international sporting event has enjoyed for more than 50 years.
He indicated that the Hassan II Trophy will experience stiff competition this year, notably with the participation of the reigning champion, the Canadian Stephen Ames, alongside former winners, such as the Scottish Colin Montgomerie, crowned in 1997, and the Spaniard Santiago Luna, tournament record holder with three victories (1998, 2002 and 2003).
For his part, the 2nd delegate vice-president of the Royal Moroccan Golf Federation (FRMG), Hassan El Mansouri, noted that this 48th edition of the Hassan II Trophy, organized under the theme “The return of the champions”, will be exceptional.
According to him, this edition will be exceptional because it is also organized this year under the banner of the PGA Champions Tour, which takes place in only a few countries outside the United States of America, including Morocco.
Juniors are also in the spotlight during the “Pro-Am Hassan II Kids Cup by First Tee” which will bring together teams made up of professional players from the PGA Tour Champions and the Ladies European Tour and young golfers from the national program “First Tee Morocco “, added Mr. El Mansouri.
He also noted that the 27th edition of the Lalla Meryem Cup will be remarkable with the participation of five Moroccan golfers, including four professionals, namely Inès Laklalech who signed an exceptional 2023 season and marked the history of national golf in crossing the cut during the LOTTE Championship, an LPGA Tour competition held last April in Hawaii, thus becoming the first Moroccan and Arab golfer to shine during an LPGA Tour tournament, Maha Haddioui, double representative of Morocco at the Games Olympics (Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2020) and Lina Belmati, Moroccan champion in 2022.
He announced that Sofia Cherif Essakali who, at the age of 13, will be the youngest golfer in the Lalla Meryem Cup and the only amateur golfer in this sporting event.
For her part, professional golfer Inès Laklalech expressed her joy at participating, for the third consecutive time, in the Lalla Meryem Cup, adding that she hopes to achieve a positive result in this competition, particularly after her recent performances in the various tournaments.
Note that Morocco remains to this day the only country to organize, in the same city, on the same dates and at the same location, a men’s and another women’s event included in the European golf calendars.
The two tournaments benefit from a television broadcast each year which reaches more than 650 million households on five continents.
2024-04-14 14:55:16