Colin Montgomerie tomorrow starts his bid for a victory which would be different to all his previous 28. For all the millions he has earned around the world and all he has achieved, Europe's number one for the past seven seasons has never triumphed when Tiger Woods has been playing as well.

The chance to put that right comes when Woods, making a one-week visit across the Atlantic, defends the Deutsche Bank Open he won in Heidelberg last year.

The tournament, offering a staggering £269,000 to the winner, has been switched this time to Gut Kaden near Hamburg - where Montgomerie finished second to New Zealander Frank Nobilo four years ago.

There was a slightly shambolic feel to the start of the event yesterday, however. After a torrential downpour the German crowd trooped through the puddles to the first tee to see Woods tee off with Boris Becker in the pro-am - only Becker was not there.

While Woods, with his usual entourage of bodyguards, set off without the former Wimbledon champion, Becker was in the clubhouse thinking he had time to kill before his big date.

They did eventually team up.

"It does not feel like a big event at the moment," admitted Montgomerie. "But it will tomorrow."

The presence of eight of the world's top 20 - Woods, Montgomerie, Jesper Parnevik, Nick Price, Lee Westwood, Darren Clarke, Sergio Garcia and Miguel Angel Jimenez - makes it one of the strongest fields gathered in Europe outside the Open.

But even though it is also the first time since Boston last September that the entire European Ryder Cup side are together, Woods is far and away the main attraction.

After his first round Woods - reportedly being paid $1 million to defend the crown - and some of the other stars are scheduled to hit balls from the roof of one downtown building onto a specially-constructed green 140 yards away on another roof across the street.

But the American never comes anywhere just for such gimmicks. After four weeks off he finished last week's Byron Nelson Classic in Texas with a 63 to just miss out on the play-off won by Parnevik against Davis Love and Phil Mickelson.

Woods is on countdown now to next month's US Open at Pebble Beach and reminding Europe's finest just how good he has become could serve useful dividends for him in California.

Asked if he expected to win every time he plays the 24-year-old - with 24 wins in 84 starts as a professional so far - answered: "Yeah. Ever since I started playing the game I've always figured there is no point showing up at a tournament if you don't think you can win."

Montgomerie has taken steps to try to topple Woods for the first time - something, of course, in which he is not alone.

Two weeks ago he changed his putter, this week it is his irons and the Scot was last night deciding whether to introduce the most controversial club in golf as well.

For the last three weeks Montgomerie has been practising with the Callaway ERC driver banned in North America, but legal in the rest of the world.

"I've been testing it on the range, but that's all well and good. The course is a very different place."

While Westwood worked with David Leadbetter on regaining both form and motivation, Parnevik had no such worries - except that his American caddie, former tour player Lance Ten Broeck, had left his waterproofs in the hotel.

If it stays dry during the tournament Parnevik could well turn out in the pink trousers he wore to victory on Sunday.

"I like them - they've been good to me," he said. "I've been second in Los Angeles, first in the Byron Nelson."

Padraig Harrington also plays - with two objectives. Play well and avoid the aberration which saw him forget to sign his first-round card last week. Three days later, by which time he was five shots clear, the error was spotted and he was disqualified.