SYDNEY: England’s Justin Rose and Adam Scott of Australia will face off in a mouth-watering pairing in the opening two rounds of the Australian Open, teeing off at The Lakes in Sydney today.
Rose and Scott are the top drawcards at the A$1.25m($1.3m) tournament but the spotlight will also be on Chinese teen sensation Guan Tianlang -- the youngest player ever to qualify for the US Masters.
World number four Rose will play the opening 36 holes alongside Scott, seventh in the rankings.
“It is a great draw for me. I regard Adam as one of my best friends out on Tour,” Rose said yesterday.
“The great thing is that you play the golf course. You are not really eye-to-eye or head-to-head, especially on days one and two.”
Scott beat England’s Ian Poulter by four shots at Melbourne’s Kingston Heath last month to win the Australian Masters for the first time, saying it made up “in a small way” for his capitulation at this year’s British Open, when he blew a four-shot lead over the last four holes at Royal Lytham.
The top-ranked Australian said he will probably use his broomstick putter as he chases a second Australian Open crown at the event, co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia and OneAsia.
Scott played his practice round at The Lakes on Tuesday without his trusty long putter.
“I’ll probably putt with the long putter,” he said. AFP
