SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- With 71 players from 19 countries outside of the United States currently qualified, the 2005 World Golf Championships-American Express Championship will again offer a world class field when fans arrive at Harding Park Golf Course Oct. 4-9, 2005.

Australia has the most international players currently qualified with 10, including Adam Scott, Peter Lonard, Stuart Appleby, Craig Parry, Nick O’Hern, Rod Pampling, Steve Elkington, Richard Green, Euan Walters and Gavin Coles. Scott, winner of the 2004 PLAYERS Championship and ranked No. 7 in the world, captured the rain-shortened Nissan Open earlier this year for an unofficial PGA TOUR victory. In 15 events on the PGA TOUR, Scott has made the cut 14 times and has finished in the top 25 in seven tournaments. Appleby won the season-opening Mercedes Championships for the second straight year, while Lonard was victorious at the MCI Heritage earlier this year.

South Africa (5), Japan (3), Ireland (2) and England (5) each have multiple players who would currently qualify, beginning with South Africa's Retief Goosen. Ranked fifth in the world, Goosen is the top-ranked player from this group as Ernie Els will not play due to a knee injury. Goosen has seven top-10 finishes on the PGA TOUR this year including his victory at The INTERNATIONAL. He also won the Linde German Masters on the European Tour last week and the Volkswagon Masters-China on the Asian Tour two weeks ago.

Luke Donald is England’s top qualifier so far. Donald finished second at THE PLAYERS Championship in March, one of two runner-up finishes in 2005. Along with five top-10 finishes on the PGA TOUR, Donald has also finished in the top 10 seven times on the European Tour. Shigeki Maruyama is currently the top qualifier from Japan. Ireland’s top performer this year has been Padraig Harrington, who ranked both 12th in the world as well as 12th on the PGA TOUR Money List. Harrington won the Barclays Classic in June by draining a putt of nearly 66 feet for eagle on the final hole. He also won earlier in the year at The Honda Classic.

“International players have always enjoyed success here at the World Golf Championships-American Express Championship,” said Ron Cross, executive director of the American Express Championship. “These events were created to give the world’s strongest golfers a chance to compete against each other and they have accomplished just that.”

Sergio Garcia, Jose Maria Olazabal and Miguel Angel Jimenez would all qualify and represent Spain as it stands now. Garcia is currently ranked No. 6 in the Official World Golf Ranking. With wins on both the PGA TOUR (Booz Allen Classic) and the European Tour (Omega European Masters) this season, Garcia continues to be one of the most successful young international players each year. In his five times playing at the American Express Championship, Garcia has never finished worse than a tie for 12th and has four top-10 finishes.

Sweden, Scotland and Wales, each have two players currently qualified. Wales’ Stephen Dodd has victories this year on the European Tour at the Nissan Irish Open and the Volvo China Open, while Sweden's Niclas Fasth also has won twice on the European Tour (Holden New Zealand Open, The Deutsche Bank Players Championship of Europe).

Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie has eight top-10 finishes on the European Tour this season, including second place at the British Open, and would currently qualify for this year’s event. The lone representative from New Zealand currently qualified is this year’s U.S. Open Champion, Michael Campbell.

The highest ranked international player currently qualified is Fiji's Vijay Singh. Ranked No. 2 in the world, Singh finished last year ranked first on the PGA TOUR Money List after earning more than $10 million while winning nine events, including the PGA Championship. Singh has followed that up by winning four events this season and has already pocketed more than $7.4 million.

“With players like Vijay Singh, Sergio Garcia and Retief Goosen well on their way to qualifying, we can expect another world-class field at the World Golf Championships- American Express Championship,” Cross said.

Other countries that have players currently qualified are Northern Ireland (2), South Korea (2), Argentina, Canada, Denmark, India, Thailand and Trinidad & Tobago. Tickets can be purchased by visiting www.worldgolfchampionships.com online or by calling 1-877-AMEX-TIX (263-9849). Use your American Express Card and receive a 10 percent discount.

The 2005 American Express Championship will mark the second time that the event has been contested in the United States. The championship debuted in 1999 at Valderrama in Spain, where it was also held in 2000. The 2001 American Express Championship was scheduled to be played at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, but was cancelled due to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. The following year, the championship was contested at Ireland’s Mount Juliet Conrad, where it returned in 2004. In 2003, Atlanta’s Capital City Club was the host site.