|
Red-hot England firm favourites
20/11/2007 10:52 - (SA)
Mission Hills - The red-hot English pairing of Justin Rose and Ian Poulter are raging favourites for team success in the 28-nation World Cup that tees off on Thursday.
They enter the $5m tournament with their confidence sky high after Rose triumphed in the recent Volvo Masters to clinch the number one spot on the European Tour for the first time.
Poulter, meanwhile, held off a strong field to win the Dunlop Phoenix in Japan at the weekend.
The duo, firm friends off the course, will be bidding to add their names to a trophy that was won by England as recently as 2004 when Paul Casey and Luke Donald were victorious in Spain.
"Ian and I go way back and to have the chance to represent my country with one of my good friends is going to be exciting," said Rose, who was joint third and second in 2002 and 2003 respectively partnered by Casey.
"The friendship that we have will hopefully create the right atmosphere for us to play good golf - that's what we are hoping for anyway."
Poulter, who will be playing his second World Cup after a fifth place finish with Casey in 2001, is in buoyant mood after edging out both Donald and British Open champion Padraig Harrington of Ireland to win in Japan.
"It's a lovely feeling to win again. That's why I play golf," said the 31-year-old.
"Winning this week definitely helps, because it gets you more comfortable when you can play under pressure."
He added that Rose and himself could give the crowds a sneak peek of a possible pairing at next year's Ryder Cup.
"Justin has come close (before) and the England side has been strong for a number of years. It will be an exciting week, and to pair up with Justin in what could, hopefully, be a pairing next September at The Ryder Cup as well."
The World Cup, often described as the "Olympics of Golf", is being played over the par-72 Jose Maria Olazabal layout at Mission Hills Golf Club, the largest golf complex in the world with 12 courses.
The 72-hole tournament, with two days of fourballs and two of alternate shot foursomes, will be played at Mission Hills until 2018.
Course designer Olazabal was due to compete for Spain alongside Miguel Angel Jimenez but pulled out due to his ongoing battle with rheumatism.
Jimenez, who won his second UBS Hong Kong Open title at the weekend after a final-hole collapse by Swede Robert Karlsson, will be partnered instead by Jose Manuel Lara.
The pony-tailed Jimenez has a reputation as an Asian specialist and the player they call "The Mechanic" reckons Spain are worth a small wager to win.
"Yeah, why not," he said. "I have just won the Hong Kong Open and Lara won it the year before."
The Scottish pairing of Colin Montgomerie and Marc Warren will be looking to make up for an ultimately disappointing outing in Barbados last year when they lost a sudden-death playoff to Bernhard Langer and Marcel Siem of Germany.
"I felt we played well through the week in Barbados last year. I missed the green at the last hole (in regulation) and unfortunately that was that," said Montgomerie.
None of the other 27 nations will be underestimating the challenge of Welsh pair Stephen Dodd and Bradley Dredge who upset the odds to win in 2005 in Portugal.
South Africa's Retief Goosen, a winner with Ernie Els in 2001, is partnered by Trevor Immelman, and should also be in the hunt.
The colourful Boo Weekley, the winner of this year's Verizon Heritage on the PGA Tour, partners Heath Slocum in a United States team looking to emulate the feat of Fred Couples and Davis Love III who won in 1995.
|
Rugby
