US Open champion, Ernie Els, will be helped in his quest for a fourth successive World Matchplay title next month by the absence of the other three of this year's major champions from the 12-man field. Masters champion Tiger Woods, British Open winner Justin Leonard and PGA title-holder Davis Love were all unable to accept invitations for the October 9th to 12th event because of prior engagements, a spokesman for the organisers said when the line-up was announced yesterday.

"The problem for these players is that they make their schedules early in the year and by the time they have won a major title their schedules are set," the spokesman, Tony Greer of the International Management Group (IMG), explained.

Nor will Els, the South African world number three, have to contend with German Bernhard Langer, twice a runner-up but never a winner of the title, who is not playing for the same reason.

Langer, who has won three European Tour titles this season, had initially indicated he could play until he was a reminded of a previous commitment by his brother, Greer said.

The other three players battling Langer for the title of European number one for the year, Colin Montgomerie, Ian Woosnam and Darren Clarke, are all in the field.

They are all members of the European Ryder Cup team who will be defending the trophy against the Americans at Valderrama next week. Another European Ryder Cup member, Swedish wild card Jesper Parnevik, joins them at Wentworth.

Two American team members in the match-play field are Phil Mickelson and Brad Faxon.

Three other past runners-up in the tournament, world number four Nick Price, second in 1991, and the beaten finalists from the last two years, Australian Steve Elkington and Vijay Singh of Fiji, are back for another crack at the title.

The field is completed by Frank Nobilo of New Zealand and Tsukasa Watanabe of Japan.