Tiger bait laid

Tiger bait laid at Nations Cup

AGENCIES Kuala Lumpur

The lure of Tiger Woods and a US$3 million dollar prize pot at the World Cup will provide the major drive for 28 countries at the Nations Cup starting Thursday.

Twelve two-man teams from Asia will take on their Western Zone rivals at Kuala Lumpur's Royal Selangor Golf Club where the top six finishers will qualify for the World Cup in Japan this November.

The United States, represented by world number one Woods and British Open winner David Duval, won the World Cup last year.

"It's a huge incentive for us to try and qualify for the World Cup," said Korea's Choi Gwang-soo, who will partner Kang Wook- soon this week.

"The best players in the world will be in Japan and it is always our aim to test our game at the highest level."

Previously, there were two qualifying events - the Nations Cup and Asian Nations Cup - for the World Cup, but the International Federation of PGA Tours decided to merge these into one qualifying event, the Nations Cup.

Korea, winners of the Asian Nations Cup in the past two years, are amongst the top contenders for the six World Cup tickets along with Myanmar, China, Germany, Italy, Holland and Colombia.

The talented Kang, the only player to win two Asian PGA Tour Order of Merit titles, was in the winning team in 1999 while Choi partnered Park Nam-sin last year.

"We've got a good teamwork going. When we were under the same sponsors a few years ago, Kang and I used to practise regularly together. We're looking forward to this event," said Choi, who is a two-time winner on the Asian PGA circuit.

European Tour regulars Alex Cejka and Thomas Gogele will spearhead Germany, while former Ryder Cup star Costantino Rocca and veteran Baldovino Dassu will lead Italy.

Angel Romero and Jesus Amaya, the top two ranked players on the Tour de Las Americas, will represent Colombia, who were the winners of last year's Nations Cup.

Rocca, who beat Woods in a famous singles victory at the 1997 Ryder Cup, is nursing a sore wrist and will be partnering a man who has not played competitive golf since 1996. Dassu, who has won twice in Europe in the 1970s, is a late replacement for US Tour regular Emanuele Canonica.

The Nations Cup will see fourball being played on the first and third rounds while foursomes (alternate shot) will be used in the second and final rounds.