Tiger Woods and Ernie Els, ranked one and two in the world respectively, are joined by Volvo Order of Merit winner Retief Goosen and Padraig Harrington, both also placed in the World Top Ten, in a stellar field for the Deutsche Bank - SAP Open TPC of Europe next month.
Woods, a winner of three titles this year including the World Golf Championships - Accenture Match Play, will be defending the title at Gut Kaden, Hamburg, Germany, from May 15-18.
Woods triumphed last year when he defeated Colin Montgomerie at the third hole of a sudden-death play-off at St Leon Rot after both players tied on 20 under par 268. It was the third time he has won the title in four years, although he missed out the last time the tournament was played at Gut Kaden in 2000 when Lee Westwood won the title.
Els also made an outstanding start to the 2003 season, winning four times around the world and currently leads the Volvo Order of Merit having claimed the Heineken Classic and Johnnie Walker Classic on The European Tour International Schedule.
The starting line up also includes Nick Faldo, local favourite Bernhard Langer, Montgomerie, Sam Torrance and Ian Woosnam.
Also in the field are young stars Justin Rose and Adam Scott. The German challenge will include, in addition to Langer, Alex Cejka, Tobias Dier, Sven Strüver, Marcel Siem and Erol Simsek.
