This is the fourth tournament already on the European Tour's 2008 schedule, and the fourth straight outside continental Europe.
The first three tournaments have seen well-known winners: Phil Mickelson at the HSBC Champions, Miguel Angel Jimenez at the UBS Hong Kong Open and Aaron Baddeley at the MasterCard Masters.
The New Zealand Open follows last week's MasterCard Masters in Australia as another event that is co-sanctioned by the European and Australasian Tours.
Last year, Nathan Green shot a 65 in the final round to beat New Zealand star Michael Campbell and five other players by two shots. It was Green's first win on the European Tour.
GOLF CHANNEL will broadcast tape-delayed action of all four rounds.
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