Reigning European Tour number one Robert Karlsson of Sweden and an all-star cast of champions will take centre stage at next week’s US$5 million Barclays Singapore Open.
The European Tour is sanctioning the tournament for the first time with the Asian Tour, leading to an avalanche of entries from players keen to improve their standing in the Race to Dubai.
The European Tour express will roll into Sentosa Golf Club packed full of winners from 2007-2009 such is the strength of the field, which features Major champions Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington, Ernie Els, Geoff Ogilvy and Michael Campbell.
World Number Two Mickelson won the WGC-CA Championship and Ogilvy took the WGC-Accenture Match Play this year, both of which count in The Race to Dubai.
Karlsson and 2007 Order of Merit number one Justin Rose will be joined by Asian specialist Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain, South Africa’s Richard Sterne and Thai ace Thongchai Jaidee, both of whom are two-time winners on the European Tour this season.
Former Asian Tour star James Kingston of South Africa, who won the Mercedes-Benz Championship in September, highly-rated New Zealander Danny Lee, victorious in this year’s Johnnie Walker Classic as an amateur, and 2009 BMW International Open champion Nick Dougherty of England are also in the field of dreams along with Lin Wen-tang of Chinese Taipei, the winner of the 2008 UBS Hong Kong Open.
American Anthony Kang, who lifted the Malaysian Open earlier in the year, Spain’s Alvaro Quiros, Shane Lowry of Ireland, Argentine Daniel Vancsik, Danes Soren Kjeldsen, Anders Hansen and Jeppe Huldahl, Swedes Peter Hedblom, Oskar Henningsson and Alexander Noren and Frenchmen Thomas Levet and Christian Cevaer are other winners from The 2009 European Tour International Schedule in the line-up.
Karlsson will be keen to get back on track in the Barclays Singapore Open from October 29-November 1, after four months out of the game with an eye injury.
The colourful Jimenez starts with an advantage as he has won four European Tour events played in Asia, and loves competing in the region.
Jaidee is seeking a hat-trick of titles for the first time in a season, and a win over The Serapong Course would see him climb back into the money-spinning top 15 in The Race to Dubai.
“I’ve not won three tournaments in a year before, but this year I have a very good chance [of achieving that goal],” said Jaidee, who lifted the Enjoy Jakarta Indonesia Open and the Ballantine’s Championship in Korea earlier in the year.
Dougherty has fond memories of Singapore having won the first of his three European Tour titles, the Singapore Masters, in the Lion City in 2005.
Established names and rookies alike will be gunning to join The European Tour champions in the elite field via the two-day qualifying competition on Sunday and Monday.
Five places will be up for grabs on both days of the qualifiers, which will be played over 18 holes at Sentosa Golf Club’s Tanjong Course.
The hopefuls include England’s Seve Benson, who flew to Singapore after missing the cut at the CASTELLO Masters Costa Azahar.
Benson is right on the cusp of the top 115 players in The Race to Dubai who keep their European Tour cards for next season, and so is in need of an improved performance in Singapore to boost his current position on the money list.
