WORLD number one Greg Norman leads four regional champions from around the world into battle for golfs richest jackpot at the $3.65 million World Championship of Golf beginning today in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The match play competition will feature Norman, the international champion; Scott Hoch, the US champion; Sam Torrance, the European champion; and Hisayuki Sasaki, the Japanese champion. Each of them won three matches in their respective regions to era a berth in the semi finals.
Norman will take on Sasaki, and Hoch will battle Torrance in today's semi finals. The winners will play 36 holes in tomorrow's final over the 7,001 yard, par 72 Grayhawk Golf Club.
First prize is $1 million, while the runner up receives $500,000. Norman, the sport's all time money winner with nearly $10.5 million, defeated fellow Australian Craig Parry, former PGA Champion Steve Elkington and David Frost to win in the international bracket.
Hoch beat British Open champion Tom Lehman, Mark McCumber and 1993 US Open champion Lee Janzen to book his place.
Torrance overcame Mark James, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Colin Montgomerie in the European region, while Sasaki, defeated last year's Japanese champion, Massy Kuramoto, Hideki Kase and Shigeki Maruyama to win his region.