The 2006 European Ryder Cup Captain Ian Woosnam and team members Paul McGinley and Lee Westwood will lead a powerful European challenge at the TCL Classic in China.
The trio have been confirmed as starters in the US$1 million tournament, to be staged at picturesque Yalong Bay Golf Club in Sanya, on the resort of Hainan Island from March 15-18.
"I'm looking forward to playing regularly again in 2007," said Woosnam, who received an OBE in the New Year’s Honours List. "The Ryder Cup is in the past and this year is all about tournament play. I'm certainly going to relish playing alongside Paul and Lee and some other great players from the European and Asian Tours at Yalong Bay."
Woosnam played in the TCL Classic in 2005 and is eagerly anticipating his return. "I'm really looking forward to it because I enjoyed the tournament two years ago. I remember Hainan as a truly beautiful island and a very relaxing place to play golf.”
Irishman McGinley has a huge incentive to win at Yalong Bay - he finished runner-up to Paul Casey after a dramatic play-off there two years ago.
It is a course he has an obvious liking for, having torn up the par 72 layout with a blistering final day 63 - including five consecutive birdies on the back nine - before Casey sank a birdie putt on the second play-off hole.
McGinley maintained his excellent Ryder Cup run in 2006 - having made his debut in 2002, when he holed the winning putt, he has now played on three winning Teams.
England's Westwood has an outstanding 16 European Tour wins to his name and has enjoyed plenty of Asian success with victories in Macau, Malaysia and Japan.
He further embellished his magnificent Ryder Cup record in 2006 when, for the second successive time, he remained unbeaten in all five matches. Having claimed 4½ points out of a possible five at Oakland Hills in 2004, he delivered again at The K Club with four points.
While European players have won all three previous editions of the TCL Classic, they will face a tough challenge to maintain that run against some of Asia's best players.
The Asian challenge will be spearheaded by home favourite Liang Wenchong, China's number one player, who has happy memories of Yalong Bay. In the first TCL Classic he scored the Asian Tour's 100th hole-in-one while last year he thrilled the galleries with a sizzling ten under par 62 in the first round.
This year's TCL Classic will once again be co-sanctioned by the European and Asian Tours and promoted by Parallel Media Group.
