Ireland's Ruaidhri McGee will look to take advantage of the absence of Europe's biggest stars after earning his place in the Open de Portugal.
While 48 of the world's top 50 are among the field for the Players Championship at Sawgrass, McGee and Scotland's Grant Forrest will compete at Morgado Golf Resort.
However, with a valuable European Tour exemption also up for grabs in an event co-sanctioned with the Challenge Tour, both men will be keen to continue their good form after top-five finishes in the Turkish Airlines Challenge secured their spot in the field.
McGee made the most of a sponsor's invite to finish fourth in Turkey in his first Challenge Tour event of the season, and the 26-year-old is hoping to use some "local knowledge" to his advantage in Portimao.
"I've been down here for a bit of the winter practising, so I know the courses and the surrounding area pretty well," he said.
"It's really handy to get here from home, the weather is great and the people here are also really friendly, so it is a great place to come over the winter.
"I think this event is a bigger event but you can't treat it any differently," he said.
"You've got to go in the same way and just do what you do normally - that's play golf."
