Scott Gets Ready for Home Defence Against the World's Best

Adam Scott returns home to Australia this week to launch his defence of the Johnnie Walker Classic at The Vines Resort & Country Club, Perth, against a truly international field featuring 24 nations and five of the top 15 players in the world. 

Leading the entries is World Number Three Retief Goosen, who is attempting to win the title for a second time following his magnificent victory in 2002 at Lake Karrinyup Country Club, also in Perth, where he took a record 13-stroke lead into the final round before winning by eight. The South African returned to action last week in the Dubai Desert Classic, finishing an impressive sixth after a six-week break from the game.

Joining Goosen from the World’s top 15 will be Scott, the highest ranked Australian at Number Ten and the man looking to create Johnnie Walker Classic history by becoming the first player to defend the title following his victory at Pine Valley Golf Resort and Country Club, Beijing, last year.

Another former winner in the field is reigning US Open Champion Michael Campbell, whose success in the 2000 Johnnie Walker Classic marked his winning breakthrough on The European Tour. The World Number 13 is something of a Vines specialist having twice won the Heineken Classic over the course when he captured back-to-back titles in 2000 and 2001.

Other players in the field to win at the Vines include European Ryder Cup Captain Ian Woosnam, who captured the Heineken Classic in 1996, the year he also won the Johnnie Walker Classic in Singapore, and Jarrod Moseley (1999).

Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie, the World Number 11 and the defending European Tour Order of Merit champion, and Argentina’s Angel Cabrera, 14th, complete the line-up of players from the World’s top 15.

Add into the mix the likes of 1992 Masters Tournament champion Fred Couples, who won the Johnnie Walker Classic in 1995 and returns to the competition for the first time since 1997, and Robert Allenby, holder of the triple crown of Australian titles – the Australian Open, Masters and PGA – and the Perth crowd are assured of a golfing feast.

The Johnnie Walker Classic - tri-sanctioned by The European Tour, The PGA Tour of Australasia and the Asian Tour - carries a prize fund of £1.25 million which makes it the richest tournament to be held in Western Australia.

Since 1992, when the event was first jointly sanctioned with The European Tour, the Johnnie Walker Classic has been played three times in Australia with Ernie Els winning twice, in 1997 and 2003, and Goosen winning once.