Rose becomes a chosen one

It was not that long ago that if it was Wentworth in the autumn Justin Rose would be getting out his knapsack and heading for a day out to watch the best players in the world on the West Course. Many spectators will be doing the same this week with the express intent of watching Rose in the Cisco World Match Play Championship.

Rose makes his debut in the event and, if Nick Faldo and Ian Woosnam are any guide, it could be the start of a long relationship. Faldo played for the first time in 1977 at the age of 20, while Woosnam, who won for the third time last year, has been making appearances since 1985.

That Rose is joining such illustrious company at the age of 22 is testament to a fine season in which he has won four times. Since he won the Dunhill Championship in South Africa at the start of the year he has never looked back. Victory at the British Masters at Woburn was another significant step, as was playing alongside Tiger Woods in The Open.

The youngster was far from disgraced and nor was he in his first Major in the States at the US PGA Championship. "Playing at the World Match Play is something I always dreamed about," said the Hampshire-based Rose.

"I used to go and watch when I was younger and I remember Faldo with his arms in the air after winning, and having that big triangle on his sweater. Being so close to home makes it special. There will be a lot of friends and family there to watch me."

His late father will no doubt be looking on from on high, and it is understandable if Rose's golf has not been the most important thing in his life in recent weeks. He only just made the cut at the Lancôme Trophy and yet after walking off the course on Friday, when he thought he would be on his way home, he could not have been more courteous to the scorers and marshals following his group. And neither did he offer any excuses for his golf. "I am just looking for that spark," he said.

"I need that X factor to get me going again. I have played in the PGA twice at Wentworth and there will be others who know the course better but I do enjoy playing it. All the matches at the World Match Play are going to be tough but it is match play and anything can happen. I will be going in with all guns blazing."

It has been easy to knock the World Match Play for the quality of its field in certain years but even though Woods and Phil Mickelson, the world's top two, will not be present, the event does have five of the top eight and the leading seven players on the world rankings with European Tour membership.

Tomorrow's draw will throw up some intriguing ties, although without a repeat of Craig Parry playing Craig Parry. The top four seeds who will receive a bye in the first round will be Woosnam, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen and Sergio Garcia.

Assuming the usual criterion of current world rankings is used, the next four seeds, who will be kept apart in the first round, will be Padraig Harrington, Vijay Singh, Colin Montgomerie and Michael Campbell. Monty and Els will be due to meet each other in the quarter-finals, as will Garcia and Harrington.

Before then Monty will have to play in the first round for only the second time since 1996. There is a one-in-four chance he will be playing Faldo but since this is an IMG draw, it could be far greater than that. They have met twice in the past, Faldo winning at the 38th in the second round in 1991 and Montgomerie winning at the same stage in 1994.

The only time the Scot has played Els was in the 1994 final, when the South African won 4 & 2 for the first of his three successive wins. Els, who has a home at Wentworth, will have to be spared napping-changing duties for three days after the birth of his first son last Sunday.

Rose may end up in the top half of the draw, possibly playing Campbell, leaving the Canadian Mike Weir to play Harrington and Fred Funk, the token American in the field, to face Singh. Or maybe not.

Though the event may not have the status of former days, the prospect of 36-hole matches over the West Course remains appealing. Despite a number of withdrawals last year that meant the drafting in of Dad's Army in the form of Faldo, Woosie, Sam Torrance and Seve Ballesteros, there were a number of exciting matches.

The final, in which Woosnam beat Harrington 2 & 1, was high both in quality and drama. Harrington was round in 11-under in the morning but then he had to be after Woosnam had birdied seven holes in a row from the second to the eighth. Three up after 21 holes, Harrington was then reeled in by the wily Welshman. Who needs Tiger?