Between 1992 and 1995, and again in 1999, former European Tour event, the
Turespana Masters, was held in the Andalusia region and titled as the Turespana Masters Open de Andalucia, with winners including future
major champion and
World Number 1 Vijay Singh, and local favourite
Miguel Ángel Jiménez. This incarnation of the Open de Andalucia owes its origins indirectly to the
PGA Tour's decision to reschedule
The Players Championship from March to May. In response, the European Tour decided to move the
British Masters, which is one of its higher profile tournaments, from that same week in May to a September slot when more top players would be available. The Valle Romano Open de Andalucia was created to fill the gap in the schedule this move created. It has been promoted by the personal companies of the Spanish European Tour members Miguel Ángel Jiménez and
Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño. The first two events were staged at the
Aloha Golf Club near
Marbella, before the tournament was moved to the
Real Club de Golf de Sevilla near
Seville for the 2009 season at the request of sponsors. At the 2009 Open de Andalucia, European
Ryder Cup veteran
Colin Montgomerie became the 18th player to reach the 500 appearance mark on the European Tour. He started the tournament impressively with a five under par 67, for a share of second place after the first round. His challenge faded however, and he finished tied for 31st place at level-par, 14 strokes behind the winner,
Søren Kjeldsen of
Denmark. Kjeldsen had broken the course record with a 10-under-par 62 on Saturday to move into the lead, and a level-par final round of 72 on Sunday was enough to see off the challenge of
Scot David Drysdale by three strokes. ==Winners==