European Tour: Vijay Singh gave a harsh assessment of himself yesterday after a year in which he has won four PGA Tour events and over $8 million in prize money.

The world number two interrupted Tiger Woods's five-year reign at the top of the rankings in a superb 2004 season, but his failure to win a major this year has left a sour taste.

"On paper it looked very satisfying, but I was very disappointed with the way I played the majors," Singh said ahead of the inaugural Champions Tournament, which began early this morning.

"I think I got complacent. I had a one-track mind last year and just nothing was going to interfere with my golf. Somewhere I lost my way."

Singh is among a quality field which includes Woods, US Open champion Michael Campbell, US PGA winner Phil Mickelson and European number one Colin Montgomerie.

There are three Irishmen in the field. Paul McGinley will play alongside Singh for the first two rounds, Padraig Harrington will be with Campbell, while Graeme McDowell completes the line-up.

The Shanghai event, the richest in Asia with a €4.2 million purse, is co-sanctioned by the European Tour, the Asian Tour, Australia's PGA Tour and the South African Sunshine Tour.

It also marks the official start of the 2006 European Tour.

This week's event is primarily designed to bring the past season's winners together, so it is easy to understand Sandy Lyle's delight at being part of the 75-man field. His last victory was 1992 and he lost his European Tour card last month.

The 47-year-old received a sponsor's invitation last week and so had to change plans that originally included cleaning out some drains at his Scottish home.