Nailsea's Chris Wood and Bristol's David Dixon tee it up for the opening round of the European Open Championship at the London Club in Kent today.

The pair will be vying for the £296,000 top prize with the likes of Sergio Garcia, Masters champion Angel Cabrera and last week's winner Paul Casey.

Wood, 22, a member at Long Ashton arrives at the London Club after sitting out last week's BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

He then travelled in vain to Walton Heath to attempt to qualify for the US Open at Bethpage Black but came up two shots short.

However, every tournament he has entered over the last two months has seen steady improvements - culminating in a top-10 finish at a wet and windy 3 Irish Open two weeks ago, where he collected a cheque for £53,000 which saw him move to 191st in the world.

Shane Lowry, Ireland and Europe's newest golf star takes his first steps as a professional, 11 days after a fairytale win in the Irish Open, the first achieved by an amateur on his European Tour debut.

Now he plays for money for the first time, and tees off with Ryder Cup hero Paul McGinley and England's Anthony Wall in the first two rounds.

The star-studded field also includes Henrik Stenson, Lee Westwood, Darren Clarke, John Daly, Colin Montgomerie and Ross Fisher, winner by seven on the course last year and runner-up to Paul Casey at Wentworth after a closing 64 on Sunday.

The total prize pot is £1.8 million, compared to nearly £2.4 million last July.