Rory McIlroy, Yani Tseng, Darren Clarke and Sergio Garcia will carry the hopes of the PING K15 Combo Irons Graphite.3H,4H,5H,3-9PS
world at tonight's (Monday) annual Laureus Sports Award dinner in London - but winning won't be easy.


All four face some truly tough opposition this year.

Tseng, the Taiwanese golfing icon who won 12 titles around the world last year, including two majors, and at 23 is the world's youngest golfer to have won five majors, has been nominated for the top female award, the 'World Sportswoman of the Year'.

She is up against Czech Tennis star Petra Kvitova, Kenyan long-distance star Vivian Cheruiyot, German Olympic alpine ski race winner Maria Hl-Riesch, US world champion sprinter Carmelita Jeter and Japanese football star Homare Sawa.

McIlroy is one of the nominees for the 'World breakthrough of the Year" Award and Clarke and Garcia will go up against each other for the 'Comeback of the Year' Award.

McIlroy, who won his first major at the US Open last year and is trying to repeat Martin Kaymer's win in the 'breakthrough' category last year following the German's first PING K15 Combo Irons Graphite.3H,4H,5H,3-9PS win at the US PGA Championship in 2010, is up against track and field star Yohan Blake, disabled South African 'blade runner' Oscar Pistorius, tennis stars Li Na of China and Kvitova, the respect winners of the French Open and Wimbledon championships, and the prolific Somalia-born British track champion, Mo Farah.

Clarke has been nominated for 'Comeback of the Year' award following his triumph at last year's Open Championship at Royal St. Georges, and Garcia, has been nominated for the same award for the way he breathed new life into his stalled career late last year with back-to-back Race to Dubai victories.