Rising English star Tom Lewis will make his first appearance in America since turning professional this week.
Young Englishman looking to make an impact in Florida
Rising English star Tom Lewis will make his first appearance in America since turning professional this week.
The 21-year-old from Welwyn Garden, whose first round 65 in The Open last year was the lowest-ever score by an amateur in the event, has accepted an invitation to play at the Transitions Championship in Florida.
Lewis does so at a time when the European contingent will be trying to make it three victories in a row on the PGA Tour.
Rory McIlroy, winner of the Honda Classic a fortnight ago, is now on three weeks off before The Masters, but Justin Rose is looking to follow up his success at the Cadillac Championship on Sunday.
Rose will play the first two rounds with Luke Donald, who needs to win to regain the world number one spot from McIlroy.
In a real sign of the times it is less than two years ago that Europe's golfers last achieved a hat-trick on United States soil.
On that occasion it was Rose at the Memorial followed by Lee Westwood in Memphis and then the crowning glory of Graeme McDowell in the US Open at Pebble Beach.
Lewis has already tasted success in the pro ranks, winning the Portugal Masters last October on only his third start.
Although he has not managed a top-20 finish since then the former Walker Cup star is content to soak up all he can at this stage of his career.
"I'm thankful for the tournament for giving me this opportunity," he said. "I'm going to need to learn as much as possible this week.
Quick greens
"On Monday I felt they were the quickest greens I've played on. I had an eight-foot putt and putted it off the front. You can't afford to do that - if you're above the hole you can't stop the ball.
"The course sets up for me well and I'm hitting the ball well, so there's no reason I can't perform.
"But as long as I leave this week with learning a little bit about where my game's at then that's maybe more important than performing."
Just like Rose, who left the amateur game the day after he finished fourth in the 1998 Open, Lewis has had the spotlight on him ever since Sandwich, where he shared the first day lead and eventually finished 30th.
Rose then went through the agonies of 21 successive missed cuts in his first year, whereas Lewis was holding up a trophy only three months later.
"The win came too quick for me in a way, but it meant good things because I was doing well," he continued. "If I want to be as good as I possibly can I am going to have to get used to that.
"I'm kind of settling down now, getting more and more used to the way it's going to be and I wouldn't change the situation I'm in."
Donald tied for sixth behind Rose at the weekend, easily his best finish of the season so far, while Paul Casey's 51st place was no surprise given it was his first event back after dislocating his shoulder snowboarding on Christmas Eve.
He will be hoping for better this week and so will Sergio Garcia, whose final round 76 included an octuple bogey 12 at one hole, Martin Laird, who next week defends the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and Padraig Harrington, back down to 90th in the rankings after missing out on the two recent world championships.
