Montgomerie to defend Caltex Masters title

Singapore: Defending champion Colin Montgomerie will lead the field in January's Singapore Caltex Masters, the golf tournament's promoters said today as they announced the prize money had been lifted to one million US dollars. Scotland's Montgomerie will be joined by England's Lee Westwood, 2004 runner up Gregory Hanrahan from the United States, 2003 champion Zhang Lian Wei from China and Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee. "I would expect it to be a strong field, and I am very much looking forward to coming back in January to defend my title and will certainly give it my best shot," Montgomerie said in a statement released by the tournament's promoters. The tournament, which will be played at the Laguna National Golf and Country Club from January 27 to 30, is jointly sanctioned by the European and Asian tours. It will carry prize money of one million dollars, up 100,000 dollars from this year's edition. The full list of entrants for next year's tournament has yet to be announced. (AP)