Monty, Thongchai and Atwal headline field

Thai star Thongchai Jaidee, India's Arjun Atwal, Scotsman Colin Montgomerie and Paul McGinley of Ireland will star in the Enjoy Jakarta Standard Chartered Indonesia Open at Cengkareng Golf Club starting on Thursday

Atwal and Thongchai, the past and present Asian Tour number ones, took last week off from the TCL Classic in Sanya, China and will be looking to launch title challenges in this week's US$1 million event, jointly sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour.

Atwal performed well in the Qatar Masters two weeks ago, forcing his way into contention after the third round despite playing with a borrowed driver. However, a final round 75 saw him slip back to tied 20th place.

The Indian stalwart, who also plays on the US PGA Tour, is a two-time winner on the European Tour, having won the Caltex Masters in Singapore and Carlsberg Malaysian Open previously.

Thongchai successfully defended his Malaysian Open title last month and is hoping his short break has recharged his batteries sufficiently in his search for more success. The former paratrooper currently heads the Asian Tour Order of Merit with US$221,560.

Seven-time European number one Montgomerie will be a man on a mission as he needs to win in Jakarta if he is to retain any hope of securing an invite to the Masters at Augusta National next month.

He is presently ranked 54th in the world and needs to break into the top-50 after this week's event to play in the year's first Major.

Last week, Montgomerie was tied for the third round lead but finished sixth, two strokes behind winner Paul Casey.

Irishman McGinley will also be a strong contender this week. He blitzed the Yalong Bay course with a course-equalling final round 63 on Sunday to force his way into a play-off with Casey but eventually settled for the runner-up spot.

New Zealand's Richard Lee, winner of the Thai Airways International Thailand Open, will be back in action after taking last week off to get married. The journeyman, who has played in Japan and Australia previuosly, broke through on the Asian Tour in Phuket earlier this month for his first major professional win.

Australian Scott Strange will also be a name to look out for in Indonesia. After winning his maiden Asian Tour title at the Myanmar Open, he has finished third in Thailand and was equal 23rd last week in Sanya.

Other top Asian names in the field include China's Zhang Lian-wei, Thailand's Boonchu Ruangkit and Thaworn Wiratchant and Singapore's Mardan Mamat, all who will feature in the Asian Team that will face Japan in the Visa Dynasty Cup at Mission Hills Golf Club, China next month.

The last time Indonesia hosted an major international event was in 1997.

March 22, 2005