for a one-day tournament at Mid Ocean, officials confirmed yesterday.

And the event will be even bigger than the Merrill Lynch Shoot-Out, which ran for the last three years, as the Gillette Tour Challenge Championship will bring to the Island eight top players from the PGA, LPGA and Senior PGA tours.

The 18-hole tournament on October 7 will feature eight teams of three -- each team consisting of a player from each of the tours. Prize money is $1.8 million, with $450,000 going to the winning team.

Plans for the tournament were announced yesterday at Mid Ocean Club by representatives of the four groups that have been working together for the past few months to try to bring the event here. Present were Tourism Minister David Dodwell and Pat Phillip-Bassett, assistant director of tourism in charge of marketing, Steve Horner, business development manager for the PGA Tour, Jim Lamie, director, sports and event marketing for the North American Division of the Gillette Company and Mid Ocean Club vice president, Michael Dunkley.

"We're delighted that this has worked out well, there is an awful lot of work that's been going into this process to be able to pull together this tournament, which actually replaces the Merrill Lynch,'' said Dodwell. Like the Merrill Lynch event, this tournament will receive television exposure in the form of a two-hour programme on November 30.

"We are excited about the national media coverage a tournament of this magnitude will offer the Island,'' said Dodwell, who disclosed that his Ministry will be investing about $500,000 in the project, slightly more than they did the Merrill Lynch.

In terms of number of players and the length of the tournament, this event surpasses the Merrill Lynch, so the Ministry sees it as money well spent.

"The format of the event is one that is unique to golf, it is the first time that PGA Tour, LPGA Tour and Senior PGA Tour players have come together to form a single team concept,'' said Horner.

"It obviously is different from what you may have seen previously and we think it is truly going to be an exciting opportunity.'' The complete lineup of teams won't be known for several months. Two will come from the Gillette Tour money list gaining spots as well as six sponsored invitees. They will be teamed together by a draw.

Top female player Annika Sorenstam and 1996 Merrill Lynch champion Craig Stadler were both on the Island recently and are keen to return this fall.

The Gillette Tour Challenge is a season long 45-event competition that will culminate in Bermuda.

"In addition to the $1.8 purse Gillette will be making a very substantial donation to the Susan G. Coleman Foundation to fund continuing breast cancer research.'' One question asked yesterday was the chance of 21-year-old phenom Tiger Woods, one of the most popular golfers in the world, making his first visit to Bermuda.

"Well, I don't think that would be a problem because Tiger is old enough to use Gillette products right now so he should be able to get some sponsorship out of that,'' quipped Dunkley.