There's no Tiger this time but nevertheless a strong cast of players tees off today at the BMW Asian Open in Taiwan.
Vijay Singh is aiming at a hat-trick of titles in Asia this year and Michael Campbell has set his sights on another victory in Taiwan, after his Johnny Walker win two years ago on the Westin Resort Ta Shee course.
That event was the debut of the European Tour in Taiwan, but this time the tour is intended to become an annual fixture on the European PGA Tour calendar.
Promoters have put up a purse of US$1.5 million to make it the richest tournament in Asia, with US$400,000 going to the winner.
The Asian Open in Taiwan is also the penultimate stop on the 2001 Asian PGA Tour.
Of all the stars competing today, most eyes will be on Michael Campbell and Vijay Singh.
Michael Campbell has fond memories of his win against Tiger Woods two years ago, as it proved to be a springboard for a string of successful campaigns.
Singh, the winner of the 1998 US PGA Championship and the 2000 Masters Tournament, captured back-to-back titles in February on the European Tour at the Malaysian Open and the Singapore Masters.
He failed to win in Singapore, however, and is looking to correct a series of recent near-wins.
"It was a good season but it's been disappointing not to win again after doing the double in Asia."
"It would be good to make up for that disappointment by winning this week. I am playing well and I didn't come all this way to finish second.
The Fijian rates his chances after having fine-tuned his swing.
"I have had a few flaws in my golf swing. When I was getting in contention I was always hitting bad shots to the left.
"I have worked on that and got it corrected. It's taken a while but I think I have got it to the point where I have good control of my golf swing," said Singh, who has won six times in Asia.
"It's important that you know down the stretch that your golf swing is going to hold up and mine wasn't doing that.
"I was playing good enough golf to finish well but not to win. I have worked on what I need to work on and I am now really looking forward to next year and this week," Singh said.
Singh's most recent visit to Taiwan resulted in victory at the 2000 Taiwan Open.
Michael Campbell and Vijay Singh, however, are not the only foreign players in the field who have shown they can win in Taiwan.
Completing the field are 60 players drawn from each of the European and Asian tours.
Leading the Asian challenge will probably be Korean-American Charlie Wi. He won the last stop on the Asian Tour, the Volvo China Open, and is atop this year's Order of Merit standings.
Other winners in Taiwan tournaments include Kang Wook-soon of South Korea (Taiwan Open), James Kingston of South Africa (Ericsson Classic), and Boonchu Ruangkit of Thailand (Mercuries Masters).
The first group of players is scheduled to tee off at 6:40am.
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