Bulgaria is hoping to rake in a total of USD 100 M as host of Europe's top golf event of this year, which is taking place from May 16-19, 2013.

The World Match Play Championship is traditionally covered by over 250 sports media worldwide and reaches an audience of over 1.5 billion people.

"Along with the tournament itself, the foreign media are going to present Bulgaria as the host of the event, showing Bulgarian history, tourist, cultural and sport attractions," organizers say.

The European Golf Tour is taking place from May 16-19, 2013 at Thracian Cliffs, which has been hailed as Bulgaria's version of the famous American coastal course Pebble Beach.

This is the first time that Bulgaria hosts a full European Tour event, part of a drive to break new ground in the largely untapped golfing market of Eastern Europe.

Even though Bulgaria doesn't have a player ranked in the world's top 1,500 professionals, it has managed to attract car manufacturer Volvo as a sponsor.

The tournament was staged at England's Wentworth from 1964 to 2009, and last year was the last at its second home at Finca Cortesin.

Following is a list of the groups and Thursday's pairing:

Groups: Ballesteros Group: G McDowell (N Irl), Chris Wood (Eng), Stephen Gallacher (Sco). Gabrielsson Group: I Poulter, T Jaidee (Thai), T Aiken (SA). Arnold Palmer Group: P Hanson (Swe), G Coetzee (SA), S Lowry (Irl). Larson Group: B Van Pelt (US), R Sterne (SA), G Ogilvy (Aus). Woosnam Group: B Grace (SA), N Colsaerts (Bel), K Aphibarnrat (Thai). Norman Group: H Stenson (Swe), F Molinari (Swe), F Aguilar (Chile). McCormack Group: T Olesen (Den), C Pettersson (Swe), S Jamieson (Sco). Player Group: G Fernandez-Castano (Sp), J Donaldson (Wal), B Rumford (Aus).

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