VANCOUVER, British Columbia, 8 September 2005 — World No. 2 Vijay Singh will put his creaking back to the test this week after travelling north of the US border for his Canadian Open title defense at the Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club.

Unable to defend his Deutsche Bank Championship crown last week in Boston after injuring his back playing table tennis with his son at his Florida home, Singh has ruled himself fit and ready to challenge for his fifth PGA Tour victory of the year.

However, the workaholic Fijian will have to contend with, among others, a pack of hungry Canadians vying for the honor of becoming their country’s first homegrown national champion since Pat Fletcher in 1954.

Mike Weir, winner of the 2003 US Masters, came agonizingly close to ending the drought last year when he lost to Singh in a playoff at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Ontario after going into the final day with a three-shot cushion.

The left-hander set the pace from the opening round before being caught by the Fijian at the 72nd hole and losing the title at the third extra hole.

Since then, Weir has struggled with back problems of his own and has produced just two top-10 finishes on the 2005 PGA Tour with seven missed cuts in 20 starts.

However, the 35-year-old is sure to be the gallery favorite with the national championship returning to Vancouver for the first time since 1966. “Finishing second in that playoff last year to Vijay Singh was one of the most incredible experiences of my career,” Weir wrote in the Toronto Globe and Mail.

“It was a big disappointment, but it gave me just a little taste of what it would be like to win my home Open, and every season it’s one of the events I underline on my calendar and prepare for accordingly.” Weir, known for excellent putting and astute course management, likes the look of the par-70 layout at Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club.

With last week’s Deutsche Bank Championship and next week’s 84 Lumber Classic on the east coast, the long trip west was unattractive for many of the top players.

American Olin Browne, who won his first PGA Tour title for six years at the Deutsche Bank Championship on Monday, added his name to a growing list of cancelations.

Browne followed compatriots Brad Faxon and Sean O’Hair and Australia’s Peter Lonard — all winners this season — who had also pulled out of the $5 million event.

Campbell Faces Order of Merit

Battle in Germany

In Cologne, Germany, Europe’s money list race hots up at this week’s German Masters, where top-ranked Michael Campbell of New Zealand will have a tough task to protect his status.

The US Open champion is at a happy hunting-ground in Gut Larchenhof, though, and is confident he can stay at the top before ending season as European No. 1 for the first time.

Campbell is around $300,000 ahead of second-placed Retief Goosen in the European order of merit but both players are well aware that this week’s event carries a first prize of $627,000. “It’s always a great feeling coming back to a tournament and a venue where you’ve won,” Campbell, 36, said on Wednesday as he prepared for Thursday’s opening round.

Seven-times European number one Colin Montgomerie is close behind in third place while Argentina’s Angel Cabrera (fourth), Dane Thomas Bjorn (fifth) and Briton David Howell (sixth) could all overhaul Campbell with victory this week.

South African Goosen, who beat Campbell into second place by six strokes at last week’s China Masters, clinched the European order of merit in 2001 and 2002 and has targeted a hat-trick of titles. “I know Michael is pretty determined to hold on, whilst Monty is just right behind me so he can’t be discounted,” said twice US champion Goosen.