Westwood comes East to try his luck at Macau Open

Britain's Lee Westwood, European Player of the Year and the winner of seven titles worldwide last season, will line up with fellow Ryder Cup star Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland to battle Asia's top professionals in the Macau Open next month, it was announced yesterday.

England's Westwood, the world number five, and two-time winner in Europe last year, and Clarke add star appeal to the US$200,000 tournament, the fourth leg on the Asian PGA Tour.

Former world number one Nick Faldo of England and Fiji's Vijay Singh thrilled the galleries at the inaugural Macau Open at the Macau Golf and Country Club last year but were eventually upstaged by winner Satoshi Oide of Japan.

The second Macau Open, from April 15-18, will be played a week after the US Masters in Augusta and the 25-year-old Westwood, tipped for superstardom after his thrilling seven-title haul last year, hopes to arrive out East with the famous winner's Green Jacket.

China's Zhang Lianwei, Korean Kang Wook-soon, whose consecutive wins in the Hong Kong Open and Omega PGA Championship clinched him the 1998 Order of Merit title, four-time Asian PGA Tour winner Boonchu Ruangkit of Thailand and Taiwan's Lu Wen-teh, winner of last year's Ericsson Classic on home soil, will be prominent amongst the Asian challengers.