Marc Warren is hunting this week for an on-course pairing with Tiger Woods to further prove he can cut it at the game’s highest level.
Warren is drawn to play alongside England’s Ross Fisher and former China No. 1 Liang Wen-chong for the first round of today’s (THUS) commencing Turkish Airlines Open at Belek.
The draw over the next three days of the inaugural $7m event is then determined on position on the leader board and Warren knows he’ll need a low scoring opener if he’s any chance of a match-up with the 14-time Major winning Woods.
Warren said: “It is a special occasion for all us being here to compete in the first Turkish Airlines Open, and from what I’ve seen already it’s going to be a great event and on one of the best prepared golf courses we will have played this year.
Marc Warren loves his ice cream but love also to be tackling Tiger Woods head on this week in Turkey. (Photo – www.golfbytourmiss.com)
“Having Tiger here is an added incentive for all us as you want to play against the best players in the world and he is still the world’s best player and there is definitely an added buzz.
“It would be good also if I could find myself drawn with him this week as I’ve never played with him before and it seems that I just miss out be a match or two.”
Warren vividly recalls the very first time he found himself in Woods company and that was the bizarre scenario when he was the Sheshan practice range in China and venue for the HSBC Champions.
No sooner had the Glaswegian settled into his practice routine and he minded of being on the range in Sheshan when Woods walked up to his left and followed by Vijay Singh to his right.
Warren said: “I felt like number one-and-a-half in the world there for a while but then I was thinking to myself now is not the time to shank a ball.
“You only had to see the massive number of people that followed him onto the tee morning, and if you were to win an event Tiger’s competing in that would definitely add more gloss to your victory.
“He’s still an absolute legend but I guess the disappointing aspect for him is that he can’t really live his life out in the open. He could never come here and have a quite practice session as I’m doing now.
“He couldn’t just experiment with any different equipment as there would always be too many people about watching and filming him.”
Woods is the only non-European competing in the elite 78-player field and with the Race to Dubai down to the penultimate event, the visiting American’s eventual prizemoney could quite easily have a big bearing on who competes in next week’s DP World Tour Championship.
Warren said: “Tiger might finish last and that wouldn’t affect the Race to Dubai one bit but then he could easily win and that might affect the Lake Nona boys at the top of the money list.
“But I’m more worried about finishing these two weeks off very strongly.
“I managed to remain 34th by not playing last week in Shanghai and the big goal, apart from winning, is to finish the season top-20 that would get me into the WGC – Cadillac Championship
“The last couple of months I’ve been pretty stale and this is going to be a big fortnight push to also get myself exempt into The Open and hopefully top-15 and into the US Open.”
Joining Warren this week along the Turkish Mediterranean shoreline is fellow Scots Stephen Gallacher, Craig Lee, Scott Jamieson, David Dysdale and course designed Colin Montgomerie.
Lee is lying 56th on the money list and needing to finish mid-field to be assured of competing in Dubai in November for a first time in his career.
He said: “I’ve no idea what I need to do. So many boys bunched roundabout me. It’s not like China, where I was last man in.
“But there are 78 players here so anybody could have a good week. I just have to focus on my own job, and see what I can do.
“So a good week would do it, just depends what everybody else roundabout does. A mediocre week might do it also but a good week would be more than sufficient I would thing. It’s only one spot I have jump. But I might have to jump three or four.
“And if I dig get into Dubai next week it would definitely be the icing on the cake, that’s for sure for the season.”
Monty’s appearance is his first in a regular European Tour event since last June’s BMW International Open in Munich.
However Monty could only manage a handful of holes in Wednesday’s Pro-Am and being forced out with a severe headache.
