Cast of champions poised for Indonesian Masters golf tournament

 　　JAKARTA, April 14 (Xinhua) -- A champions-laden cast from the Asian Tour will be out to challenge title holder¹ Lee Westwood of England at the CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters golf tournament next week, organizers said here on Saturday.

　　Asia's history-maker Thongchai Jaidee, who holds an unprecedented² three Order of Merit titles and 13 victories, will spearhead an elite³ field which will include no fewer than 40 winners at the Royale Jakarta Golf Club from April 19 to 22.

　　World No. 3 Westwood, fresh from his third place finish at the Masters Tournament, and Major champions Ian Woosnam of Wales and Michael Campbell of New Zealand will also headline the 750,000 U.S. dollar full-field Asian Tour event.

　　Six of this season's winners, Australia's Scott Hend and Kieran Pratt, Indian duo Digvijay Singh and Anirban Lahiri, American David Lipsky and Singaporean veteran Mardan Mamat, will compete in the event with the aim of securing a second victory of the season.

　　Other leading contenders from Asia include sweet-swinging Thai Prayad Marksaeng, Lu Wei-chih of Chinese Taipei, 12-time Asian Tour winner Thaworn Wiratchant and Bangladeshi star Siddikur.

　　All eyes will also be on former world amateur No. 1 Peter Ulhein of the United States, who has received a sponsor's invitation to compete at Royale Jakarta, and Sri Lankan prospect⁴ Mithun Perera, who finished second in the ISPS Handa Singapore Classic last week.

　　The highly-decorated Thongchai finished second in last year's Indonesian Masters, three shots behind Westwood. The veteran will be hoping to go one spot higher next week and will count on his belly⁵ putter to shoot him to a 14th career victory.

　　"My putting is getting better, I've got more confidence now with the belly putter," said Thongchai, who opted⁶ for the longer stick at the start of the new season.

　　Big-hitting Hend, winner in Singapore last week, will be hoping to extend his rich vein⁷ of form. The two-time Asian Tour winner hopes his booming drives will play to his advantage where he has averaged 316 yards off the tee this year.

　　"I went back to Florida and got myself a brand new set of clubs, new wedges and a brand new three-wood. Everything is brand new except for my putter and driver. I spend the past four weeks practicing and hitting like 400 to 500 balls a day," said Hend.

1 holder   

n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物

参考例句：

• The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
• That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。

2 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

3 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

4 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

5 belly   

n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛

参考例句：

• The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
• His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。

6 opted   

v.选择，挑选( opt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was co-opted onto the board. 她获增选为董事会成员。
• After graduating she opted for a career in music. 毕业后她选择了从事音乐工作。

7 vein   

n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络

参考例句：

• The girl is not in the vein for singing today.那女孩今天没有心情唱歌。
• The doctor injects glucose into the patient's vein.医生把葡萄糖注射入病人的静脉。