Els and Harrington head for

Singapore Open

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ASIAN TOUR
Major champions Padraig Harrington and Ernie Els will return to play in this year’s Barclays Singapore Open, where they both finished runner-up last season.
The Barclays Singapore Open will be played on the Serapong Course at Sentosa Golf Club from October 29 to November 1 and will boast prize money of US$5million - once again making it the richest national Open in Asia.
Korea’s K.J Choi and Darren Clarke from Northern Ireland will add further star appeal to the tournament, which for the first time is being joint-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour.
Harrington and Els are ranked 9th and 20th in the world, respectively, and finished tied for second place last weekend at The Barclays tournament in New York. They both missed makeable birdie putts on the final hole of the 2008 Barclays Singapore Open that would have forced a play-off with champion Jeev Milkha Singh from India.
Els also finished second in the 2006 Barclays Singapore Open when Australian Adam Scott beat him in a gripping three-hole play-off.
More marquee names will be announced in the coming weeks with players from all over the world eager to tee it up in the 46th edition of the event.
As a full field event of 156 players, the Barclays Singapore Open will comprise 65 players from each Tour with a further 10 places available through a local qualifying event on the Sunday and Monday before the tournament starts. There will be nine invitations, four amateurs and three Singaporean professionals.
This year’s Barclays Singapore Open will once again be broadcast live for all four days on the ESPN Star Sports network.

+++The Barclays Singapore Open clashes with the limited field Volvo Match-play Championship which is being held on the Costa del Sol in Spain for the first time.