Rose set to blossom at Barclays Singapore Open

Singapore, November 7: Justin Rose, the Englishman who is now a regular winner on the US PGA Tour, is the latest star player to confirm his participation in the Barclays Singapore Open.

The US$6 million tournament tees-off on Thursday at Sentosa Golf Club and it will be the second time Rose has played in Asia’s richest national Open.

The 31 year old finished in a tie for 14th place in 2009 and after another fine season he will be looking to be in contention on Sunday afternoon.

In the WGC Champions event in Shanghai on Sunday he ended in joint seventh place and will make the journey south full of confidence.

In September this year he recorded a victory in the BMW Championship – which was his third win on the US PGA Tour following two successes last year.

Rose was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and moved to the United Kingdom at the age of five. He burst to prominence at The Open Championship in 1998. As a 17 year old amateur he holed a dramatic shot from the rough for birdie on the 18th to finish tied for fourth.

He has also tasted victory four times on The European Tour and played in the Ryder Cup in 2008.

Rose will battle a cast of Major champions including American Phil Mickelson, Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland, Y.E. Yang from Korea, Ireland's Padraig Harrington and South Africans Ernie Els, Retief Goosen and Louis Oosthuizen in the European Tour/Asian Tour co-sanctioned event.

They will be joined by India’s Jeev Milkha Singh, who won the 2008 Barclays Singapore Open, and American Anthony Kim and Camilo Villegas from Colombia.

Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn and Alexander Noren from Sweden, both multiple winners on The European Tour this season, and golf’s latest young sensation Tom Lewis will also compete in Singapore.

For the second successive season a starting field of 204 players will compete on both The Serapong and The Tanjong courses. Players will play on both courses for the first two days and after the halfway cut is made they will compete on The Serapong at the weekend.

The Barclays Singapore Open will be broadcast live for all four days on the ESPN Star Sports network through the efforts of event organiser World Sport Group.