Daly to play new Beijing tournament

Big-hitting American John Daly, seen here at the BMW Asian Open in Shanghai, will headline next week's inaugural Pine Valley Beijing Open while golf legend Jack Nicklaus will make a guest appearance. Big-hitting American John Daly will headline next week's inaugural Pine Valley Beijing Open while golf legend Jack Nicklaus will make a guest appearance, organisers said Thursday.

Daly, a two-time major winner, is already in China for the BMW Asian Open in Shanghai, and will be the biggest name to compete at the 500,000-dollar tournament starting on April 26.

Nicklaus, who won an unprecedented 18 majors, is not playing but will hold a clinic for juniors and attend the opening of the Pine Valley Resort's second course, which he designed, the Asian Tour said.

The Beijing Open is the newest tournament for the Asian Tour and the fifth in China, underlining golf's growing popularity in the booming nation.

Another new event, the Midea China Classic, will be played in September in Guangzhou.

Chinese stars Zhang Lianwei and Liang Wenchong, who recently triumphed in the Singapore Masters and donated his prize money to the development of golf in China, will lead the local challenge in Beijing.

Daly remains one of the biggest drawcards in golf despite a world ranking which has plummeted to 231.

He had a disastrous first round at the BMW Asian Open, which is co-sanctioned by the European and Asian tours, shooting a seven-over 79 to be in danger of missing the cut