Jyoti Randhawa, currently third on the Asian Order of Merit, has been put in a marquee grouping with defending champion Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain and Peter O' Malley in the opening round of the USD 2.3 million Johnnie Walker Classic Golf tournament at the magnificent Pine Valley Golf Resort and Country Club in the Chinese capital.
Asia's richest event has four other Indians in the fray.
Harmeet Kahlon has been put with South African James Kingston and American Mike Cunning, winner of the 2003 Indian Open.
Amandeep Johl, member of the recent Dynasty Cup winning Asian team, has been paired with Charl Schwartzel, the hugely talented South African who some years ago won the Amateur All India Matchplay and in last two years as a pro has done very well. The third player will be James Nitties.
Rahil Gangjee, winner of the Volvo China Open in 2004, will once again hope that China proves to be lucky for him as he plays with Scott Gardinder and David Bransdon.
Jeev Milkha Singh, looking for his first win in almost six years, is paired with Thai-based American Greg Hanrahan and Richard Best.
Two other eagerly awaited groups include Thomas Bjorn, Retief Goosen and China's Zhang Liang-wei, the unbeaten star at Dynasty Cup. Ernie Els, who has already twice won in Asia this year in Dubai and Qatar, is paired with the Korean superstar K J Choi and England's Paul Casey.
The event is tri-sanctioned between Asian, European and Australasian Tours and the opening round begins tomorrow and the event ends on Sunday.
