American Bo Van Pelt is looking to round off his 2012 campaign in style at this week’s ISPS HANDA Perth International.
The US PGA Tour star had five top ten finishes in his last nine events, and is now hoping to complete an impressive year with victory in Australia.
However, despite being amongst the pre-tournament favourites, the 37 year old is not expecting an easy week at Lake Karrinyup.
“I think there's a lot of great players here this week, so I would think 144 players with a realistic chance,” said the World Number 24.
“You can't win if you're not here - I would never take any tournament for granted and I think the game is so strong right now top to bottom, there's deeper fields everywhere you play.
“I would think that this week there's a lot of guys that have an opportunity to play well and win. So I know it's going to take a great effort and it's going to be a great champion at the end of the week.
“I haven't played a tournament in a few weeks so I'm looking forward to playing with the flag up. When they hand you that scorecard and the flag goes up on the Thursday, that's when my juices get flowing and it's fun to compete.”
Van Pelt last visited Australia nine years ago as a Nationwide Tour player, and has been eager to return ever since.
“I had a great time last time I was here, just fell in love with the country and the people were so friendly,” he added. “I’ve been anxious to get back and some day when my kids get old, I want to bring them, as well.
“It was a great opportunity for me coming over to Malaysia next week anyway, to come over to this part of the world and have a chance to work on my game. I talked to Adam Scott and some of the boys and they had nothing but great things to say; so I was looking forward to getting over and so far I’m very impressed with everything I've seen.”
