It was a draw that would have had bookmakers scratching their heads.

Twenty four world class golfers from three separate tours playing in eight teams.

And when the last name came out of the hat, picking a winner was no easier than when the first went in.

Such is the format of the $1.95 million Gillette Tour Challenge Championship which makes its third appearance at Mid Ocean Club early this morning.

Two years ago Nick Price, Kelly Robbins and Jim Colbert, in his first tournament since cancer surgery, ran off with the $450,000 prize; last year it was Jim Furyk, Lee Trevino and Michelle McGann who hit the jackpot.

This year with an increased winners' purse of $495,000 ($165,000 each), it's again anybody's guess.

Despite Trevino's absence, Furyk and McGann remain partners, helped by the addition of Dave Stockton.

Tom Watson, playing for the first time as a representative of the PGA Tour despite recently enrolling on the Senior circuit, finds himself teamed with Australian Graham Marsh and Dottie Pepper.

But if there's a team which looks marginally stronger on paper than the rest, then it's the threesome of Scott Hoch, Hale Irwin and Annika Sorenstam.

Hoch's played Mid Ocean more than any other pro in the field, Irwin is by far the wealthiest player on the Senior Tour and Sorenstam is coming off a victory in Sunday's New Albany Classic, her second Tour win of the year.

But then last year US Open winner Lee Janzen, LPGA sensation Se Ri Pak and senior Hubert Green looked a pretty formidable package -- and they placed dead last! Tee times following last night's draw are as follows: 8.00 Tommy Armour III, Walter Morgan, Lorie Kane 8.09 Jeff Sluman, Dana Quigley, Nancy Lopez 8.18 John Daly, Hugh Baiocchi, Karrie Webb 8.27 Nick Price, Jay Sigel, Meg Mallon 8.36 Billy Andrade, Jim Colbert, Juli Inkster 8.45 Scott Hoch, Hale Irwin, Annika Sorenstam 8.54 Tom Watson, Graham Marsh, Dottie Pepper 9.03 Jim Furyk, Dave Stockton, Michelle McGann Tee Talk: Stars of today's Gillette Challenge (from left) Jim Furyk, Walter Morgan, Jim Colbert and Scott Hoch get together for a chat before the start of yesterday's Pro-Am.