Golf: Champs return to NZ Open

Three former champions are expected to line up in next month's New Zealand Open at Middlemore.

New Zealand's Michael Long and Australians Lucas Parsons and Peter Fowler are expected to take part in the Holden-sponsored Open from January 16-19.

Parsons won the 1995 championship at the Wellington Golf Club; Auckland-based Fowler won the 1993 event at Paraparaumu; and Long, who missed out on retaining his US PGA Tour card this week, took the title in 1996.

NZ fourth seed New Zealand golfers Michael Campbell and Craig Perks are seeded fourth in the 24-nation World Cup starting in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, tomorrow.

The top seeds for the four-day event are the United States (Phil Mickelson and David Toms), followed by Fiji (Vijay Singh and Dinesh Chand), Ireland (Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley) and New Zealand.