Cabrera is chasing an Asian double

SHANGHAI, China -- U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera, fresh off a win in Singapore, will attempt to make it a double when he competes for Asia's biggest golf purse this week at the HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai.

Cabrera will be joined by Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els in an event that is missing Tiger Woods, the top player in the world who is bypassing the tournament and its $5 million in prize money this year.

Els lost a chance to win the European Tour Order of Merit last weekend when he was unable to play in the season-ending Volvo Masters in Spain because he had already committed to the Singapore Open.

That left the way clear for Justin Rose to snatch the title from Els who said: "I'm disappointed. You can't play in the last event, which is a flagship event, and you lose the Order of Merit that way. It really doesn't make any sense."

To make matters worse Els missed the cut in Singapore, but added: "I've had better preparation going into this week. Not having to talk about the European Tour and all that stuff, I can concentrate on golf and hopefully give it a better shot."

It will be Mickelson's first official event in China, but the focus should be on Cabrera who stunned the golf world with his victory over Woods at the U.S. Open in June.

The confident Argentinian is now ranked 14th in the world after edging Vijay Singh of Fiji to win in Singapore last weekend.

Singh will also be in Shanghai, as will be British Open champion Padraig Harrington of Ireland and South African Retief Goosen.

The defending champion is Yang Yong-eun from South Korea, who held off Woods to win by two strokes last year. E-mail to a friend