Tee-off for Cejka & Co. in Shanghai

Munich/Shanghai. First-class golfing in the middle of one the greatest
metropolises worldwide. The majority of the world's top players will be present
in Shanghai on the occasion of the BMW Asian Open's initial tee-off on
Thursday, May 13th. Amongst others, three European elite players will be there
- the Irish titleholder Padraig Harrington, Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez and
Alexander Cejka, currently Germany's leading golf player. Australian golfing
legend Greg Norman will be holding up the flag for the fifth continent among
the 156 participants.

Obviously, the best Asian players will also be taking part in the tournament
hosted on Chinese soil. After China's number one, Zhang Lian-wei, K.J. Choi has
also confirmed his participation. The 33-year old Korean, who gave evidence of
his excellent condition this spring by ranking third at the US Masters, is
considered one of the top favourites at the tournament, which, with a prize
fund of 1.5 million USD, is China's most highly prized, the overall winner
receiving 250,000 USD.

The BMW Asian Open, in cooperation with the European PGA Tour and the Asian
Tour, are hosted in China for the first time ever. Previously, in the years
2001 and 2002, the tournament took place in Taipeh, Taiwan. The Championship
Course of the Tomson Shanghai Pudong Golf Club is located in the centre of
Shanghai, measures a length of 6.674 meters and, due to its topographic
constitution, is considered one of the biggest challenges.

For questions please contact:

Corporate Communications

Susanne Spatz, Public Relations, Sports Communication and PR Programmes
Telephone: +49 89 382 20962, Fax: +49 89 382 28017

Michael Kirsch, General Manager Public Relations
Telephone: +49 89 382 25111, Fax: +49 382 26972