Justin Rose is hoping to build on a promising start to 2015 when he tees up in this week’s Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.
The World Number Five was in danger of missing the cut in Abu Dhabi last week when he shot an opening 73, but scraped through to the weekend with a second round 69 and a bogey-free closing 65 saw him finish in a tie for 12th.
Now the former US Open Champion is looking to turn around his fortunes at Doha Golf Club, where he has made just one cut in five appearances.
“I’m looking forward to trying to get my head around this golf course,” said Rose. “It's not one that's been the kindest to me, and I’ve been figuring it out the last couple of days. It's been more about getting my lines off the tee, and I feel like there's a lot of run-outs and carries.
“It’s been a good couple of days' work on the back of what turned out to be a good tournament last week momentum wise – I was definitely a little rusty, a little shaky with my game the first couples days.
“On Sunday I put together a good round, so it was nice to finish the tournament strongly. A bogey-free 65 is something you can definitely feel a bit of confidence from. I’m looking forward to taking that momentum into this week.
“The fairways aren't that wide, so it's a tough course to play out of the rough. Depending where they put the tees, the course is playing quite long, too, so it definitely comes down to driving the ball well.
“My goal is to keep the ball out of the wind as much as possible, keep the flight down and just play a solid first round. Like last week, I think you're going to see some good scoring if the wind drops.
“Last week I just didn't play well but mentally I really stuck with it and did well to make the cut. I shouldn't have made the cut but did well to and turned in a good result from the way I played.”
Rose has been paired with Ryder cup team-mate Stephen Gallacher and former Masters Tournament winner Charl Schwartzel, and revealed an unusual link with the South African's wife, who is again caddying for her husband this week.
“Charl has put in a couple good weeks in South Africa, and Abu Dhabi was pretty good again last week,” added Rose. “It's going to be fun to be with him - his wife is on the bag again, who is actually my second cousin believe it or not.
“Her father is my mum's cousin. That will be fun, it will be a nice group.
“I really enjoy Stephen's company too. He's a very good wind player, so I’ll just try to follow his lead.”
