Good start for Westwood as Rose struggles

Lee Westwood struck the first blow in the European Order of Merit battle today - as Justin Rose began his defence of the Volvo Masters with a nine over par 80.

To regain the money list crown he captured in 2000, Westwood has to win on Sunday and hope that Robert Karlsson is not in the top three.

On the notoriously difficult Valderrama course, made even trickier by a stiff wind, Westwood opened with a 15-foot birdie putt while the Swede bogeyed the same hole.

Padraig Harrington and Miguel Angel Jimenez, both striving for the win that could take them to the number one spot, started with par fours.

As for Rose, his hopes of making a better job of his tournament defence than his Order of Merit defence lay in tatters.

And the world number 16 then said he was not certain to play in next week’s event in China.

Playing on his own at the start of the 57-strong field – he qualified not off the money list, but as the holder of the title – Rose’s round included a triple bogey eight on the 17th, where he chipped into the water after pitching over the green.

Already 13 strokes behind early pacesetter Soren Kjeldsen, one of the two players he beat in a play-off a year ago, the 28-year-old described his performance as “terrible”.

Rose lies 81st on the Order of Merit and unless he climbs 30 places his defence of the Harry Vardon Trophy will be the worst since Dale Hayes in 1976.

He added: “I’m just playing poorly right now – everything is hard work.”

When asked about the three events he still has on his schedule before Christmas Rose stated: “Maybe.”

The first is the HSBC Champions in Shanghai, the opening event of next season’s “Race To Dubai”, but Rose commented: “The only reason to play there is to get a result under my belt, but at the moment it feels like a waste of time.

“I can’t wait not to play again for a long while.”

He blames poor scheduling for his disappointing season on both sides of the Atlantic, having managed only two top 10 finishes on the US Tour and one in Europe.

“I feel like I’ve slightly messed up this year a little bit,” he admitted on the eve of the tournament he won after a play-off against Simon Dyson and Soren Kjeldsen last November.

“I feel what worked so well for me last year – taking quite a bit of time off, taking weeks off before majors – has not worked this year.

“It has been stops and starts and I don’t feel like I’ve got a lot of momentum going. That’s probably one area I can look at.”

Kjeldsen turned in a superb four-under 31 with five birdies already on his card and led by two from England’s Anthony Wall and David Lynn, both in the clubhouse with 69s to their names.