SINGAPORE - World No. 7 Adam Scott returns to one of his favourite golf tournaments, the Singapore Open, where he is a three-time winner and the most successful player in the event's history.
The popular Australian will be seeking another victory and believes his familiarity with the Sentosa Golf Club's Serapong course will be crucial this week.
The 36-year-old former world No. 1 said during Wednesday's (Jan 18) press conference: "I have a strong connection with Singapore and Sentosa over the last 10 to 12 years, and it's a tournament I very much enjoy. It's a great golf course."
Scott triumphed in 2005 by seven shots from Lee Westwood of England, and then defeated South African star Ernie Els in a three-hole play-off a year later.
He bagged his third title in 2010 with a stunning 17-under 267 score and finished three strokes clear of Denmark's Anders Hansen.
Scott, who won the US Masters in 2013, said: "I've just managed to play well here. I stand on the tee and my ball ends up on the fairway more often than not. It seems fairly generous in spots this course but you still have to be precise.
"It has really big greens but if you hit it a long way away from the green you're really going to struggle. It just fits my eye and happily I've taken advantage a few times."
The US$1 million (S$1.4 million) tournament is co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour Organisation. Besides Scott, the 156-man field includes world No. 15 Sergio Garcia, four-time Major winner Els and a host of top Asian players.
Host Singapore will have 12 representatives led by five-time Asian Tour winner Mardan Mamat.
Scott will tee off on the first hole with defending champion Song Young Han of South Korea and Japanese star Yuta Ikeda at 12.50pm on Thursday.
Other selected tee-times:
Hole 1
7.40am: Lam Chih Bing (Sgp)
12.40pm: Ernie Els (Rsa), Hiroyuki Fujita (Jpn), Mardan Mamat (Sgp)
Hole 10
7.40am: Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha), Liang Wenchong (Chn)
7.50am: Chan Shih-chang (Tpe), Hideto Tanihara (Jpn), Gaganjeet Bhullar (Ind)
8am: Sergio Garcia (Esp), Kim Kyung Tae (Kor), Miguel Tabuena (Phi)
9am: Quincy Quek (Sgp)
