Important appointment on the Asian Tour this week. This Thursday the Singapore Open presented by The Business Times gets under way, a classic event first played in 1961 and arriving with the added incentive of being a qualifier for the next Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. Specifically, it awards two places to the highest-finishing players who are not already exempt for any other reason. This translates into an excellent opportunity for the four Spanish golfers taking part in this event.
The candidates to secure a place in the fourth Major of the year are Josele Ballester, who has already played the Open Championship as the US Amateur champion, Luis Masaveu, who has also made his debut in this tournament through qualifying, Carlos Pigem and Pablo Ereño. The latter two have not yet made their debut in any major.
That makes the Singapore Open a gateway to something much bigger, although it will by no means be an easy task. After all, of the 144 players in the field only two already have guaranteed places in the Open: Lucas Herbert and Kazuki Higa. That is, two places for 142 golfers, stiff competition.
Ballester and Masaveu arrive at the Sentosa Golf Club, the usual venue for this tournament, with the good feelings they showed last week at the LIV Golf Mexico City. Ballester finished in solo third place, while Masaveu was in the top 10 all week and finished 13th, his best ever finish on the Saudi circuit. Positive vibes for both
Pablo Ereño also comes in good form. The Madrid-born golfer has got off to a splendid start to the season on the HotelPlanner Tour, making the most of the early invitations he has received. His latest outing was the International Series in Japan, where he made the cut, although he finished down the leaderboard in the final standings
Meanwhile, Carlos Pigem is the main unknown. He returns to the Asian Tour and will play his first tournament of 2026 in full honour after becoming a father for the first time. He played last week in the Campeonato de España de Parejas en Izki Golf. He finished among the top ten, partnering Scott Fernández.
The Singapore Open has a good relationship with Spanish golf. After all, in the last nine editions we have had two Spanish winners: Gonzalo Fernández Castaño in 2011, when the tournament was part of the DP World Tour schedule, and Sergio García in 2018, when he arrived as the reigning Masters Tournament champion.
In addition to the four Spanish golfers, the most notable names in Singapore are Andy Ogletree, Matt Jones, John Catlin, Caleb Surratt, the aforementioned Lucas Herbert, Peter Uihlein and Travis Smyth
