José Mourinho is used to picking winning teams and that is exactly what the former Chelsea manager believes he has done now that he has agreed to become the Ambassador for Portugal’s bid to host the Ryder Cup in 2018.
“I always play to win and I know everyone connected to the 2018 Portuguese Ryder Cup bid is exactly the same,” said Mourinho, who first sprung to international prominence when he led Porto to victory in the 2004 UEFA Champions League and who has since seen his international reputation soar after successful spells at both Chelsea, where he led his team to two Premier League titles in 2005 and 2006, and Inter Milan, where in 2009-10 he achieved the first treble in Italian football history, winning the Serie A league title, the Coppa Italia and then emulating Ernst Happel and Ottmar Hitzfeld by becoming the third manager to win the UEFA Champions league with two different clubs.
The man known as ‘the Special One’ is currently managing in Spain where his Real Madrid side is leading La Liga, ahead of bitter rivals Barcelona.
Mourinho does not play golf but he learned a good deal about the sport while managing in England and is well aware of what a successful Ryder Cup bid, centred around a purpose-built Tom Fazio golf course at the new €1 billion golf and leisure development at Herdade da Comporta, close to the village of Comporta on the idyllic Alentejo coast, would do for his country.
“Comporta is a region I have cherished and known since an early age, due to its proximity to my home town of Setúbal. It is one of Europe’s best-kept secrets, with its tranquil beaches and clear blue sea, with rice paddies as far as the eye can see and overwhelming natural beauty. Organising the Ryder Cup will allow Portugal to show its best to the world, something we should all work towards, to establish our country as a high-quality tourism destination” Mourinho said.
He added: “To always win and to take Portugal’s name to the four corners of the world that’s the challenge I set myself each day and that’s the goal Comporta is committed to. Win the bid to host the 2018 Ryder Cup.”
The Portuguese Ryder Cup bid is based at the new €1 billion golf and leisure development at Herdade da Comporta, close to the village of Comporta on the idyllic Alentejo coastline, where acclaimed American golf course designer, Tom Fazio, has combined with European Golf Design, to build a brand new purpose-built Ryder Cup championship course that sits on rolling land close to the sea.
The Comporta Links, Fazio’s first creation on this side of the Atlantic, is destined to become feted as one of Europe’s finest courses and it will become the focal point in Portuguese plans to develop the Alentejo Coast alongside the Algarve and the Lisbon Coast as the country’s third golfing destination.
In time, the area, which is blessed with one of the last unspoilt coastlines in Western Europe, will feature eight courses, including a second at Herdade da Comporta, designed by David McLay Kidd, the architect behind the new Castle course at St Andrews. Comporta Links will also be a case study for the Golf Environment Organisation (GEO) Legacy programme. When complete, the area will feature 32 hotels, fine restaurants and a wide range of other tourist amenities – all designed to enhance Portugal’s well-deserved reputation as a high quality tourist destination and to bring 15,000 much-needed jobs to the local community.
Herdade da Comporta www.herdadedacomporta.pt/siteuk/