Despite being sandwiched between tournaments in England and Germany that has kept many of the top Europeans from making the trip, the BMW Asian Open has still managed to assemble a field representative of the best international players competing today.

　　The US$1.5-million tournament tees off tomorrow at Tomson Shanghai Pudong Golf Club and has a winner's purse of US$250,000.

　　While world No. 8 Padraig Harrington is the top-ranked player in the field, the largest gallery will be following star attraction Greg Norman.

　　At 49, the "Great White Shark" is still one of golf's premier attractions. In his 21-year career, the Australian was synonymous as the game's best player in the pre-Tiger Woods era of the mid 1980s and early 1990s, chalking up an impressive record of 88 career victories worldwide.

　　The former world No. 1 won British Open championships in 1986 and 1993 for his only two majors but is perhaps more famous for the tournaments he didn't win. The Queensland native who only started playing golf at 16, has led all four majors going into the final round but finished runner-up on eight occasions.

　　Irishman Harrington goes into the event as the defending champion having won the event in 2002 when it was last held in Chinese Taipei. Since then he has won the Hong Kong Open in November, tied for 13th at the Masters and captured the Irish PGA Championship last month. He finished joint fifth at the Macau Open last week.

　　Miguel Angel Jimenez may be the player to watch as the Spaniard is having a career year and loves to play in Asia. The world No. 40 won the Johnnie Walker Classic in Thailand in February and followed it up with a joint sixth at the Malaysian Open. The 40-year-old Malaga native has since captured the Portuguese Open last month and is a sure bet for a spot on the European Ryder Cup team in September.

　　Other top Europeans in the field include PGA Tour regular Alex Cejka, Sweden's Jarmo Sandelin, a past winner of the BMW Asian Open, and Ireland's Paul McGinley, forever known as the player who sunk the US team at the last Ryder Cup with his winning putt.

　　Heading the Asian charge is the region's top player, Choi Kyung-ju, and the Chinese No. 1 Zhang Lianwei.

　　Choi, a former regular on the now-defunct Asian PGA Tour, is currently among the world's top players. The South Korean won twice on the PGA Tour in 2002 and captured his first European Tour event last year, winning the German Masters. He currently sits 16th on the PGA Tour money list largely on the strength of his impressive third-place finish at the Masters.

　　Zhang, China's golf pioneer, nearly joined Choi for the final round at Augusta, but narrowly missed the cut by one stroke last month in his debut at the famed tournament. The Zhuhai native is a frequent visitor to Shanghai and thrilled a large gallery at Silport in November when he won the China Open.

　　Other Asians to watch include Jyoti Randhawa, the Indian No. 2 who was joint runner-up at the Johnnie Walker Classic, China number two Liang Wenchong, Myanmar's Kyi Hla Han, Singaporean Mardan Mamat and big-hitting Thai youngster Prom Meesawat, a two-time world junior champion who recently joined the pro ranks.

　　Jason Knutzon holds the hot hand among international players on the Asian Tour as the American won last week's Macau Open. Others to watch include New Zealand's Eddie Lee, Scotland's Simon Yates and Australian Brad Kennedy.