Thorbjorn Olesen defends the Perth International

The European Tour travels to Australia where Thorbjorn Olesen defends the Perth International at Lake Karrinyup against a field including Louis Oosthuizen.

This tournament began life in 2012 when American Bo Van Pelt was champion, Jin Jeong of South Korea took the title in 2013 and Thorbjorn Olesen was champion when this event was last held in October of 2014.

Thorbjorn Olesen defends the Perth International and he’s looking forward to the challenge, he comes into the event on the back of some good early season results: he was tied second in Qatar and tied eighth in Dubai.

“I really like Australia in general, and especially Perth,” said the Dane. “It’s just a shame that it’s so far from Europe, or else I would visit a lot more. The people are great, the food’s really good and I just like the vibe of the place. It’s nice and relaxed, Australians have a good attitude to life, and you can have fun. The course is also great, so I’m really looking forward to going back to defend my title.”

Louis Oosthuizen looked to his countryman Ernie Els for guidance ahead of this week. Ernie won the 2003 Johnnie Walker Classic at Lake Karrinyup with an incredible four-round score of 29-under-par.

“I spoke to Ernie a bit about the course, because has won there before,” said Oosthuizen. “He said great things about the place, so I’m looking forward to seeing it for myself. I hear there’s a big South African crowd there, and I’ve got friends who live there as well.”

The event is tri-sanctioned by the European Tour, the Asian Tour and the PGA Tour of Australasia and will feature more than 50 players from the host country. The weather forecast looks set fair with temperatures set to get pretty high on Friday and Saturday – up to 36 deg C.

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Venue: Lake Karrinyup CC, Perth, Australia Date: Feb 25-28 Course stats: par 72, 7,143 yards Purse: €1,140,000 Defending Champion: Thorbjorn Olesen (-17)

TV Coverage: Thursday 25– Sky Sports 4 from 5am Friday 26 – Sky Sports 4 from 5am Saturday 27 – Sky Sports 4 from 5am Sunday 28 – Sky Sports 4 from 5am

Player watch:

Peter Uihlein – The talented American was tied ninth in this event last time it was held and was right in the mix until a disappointing final round of 73. He was also tied ninth last week in Malaysia.

Peter Uihlein short game secrets:

Julien Quesne – He was tied fourth last week in Malaysia and looked very solid as he put together four under-par rounds. He shot a 67 in the first round at Lake Karrinyup in 2014 so he clearly knows how to get round here.

Marcus Fraser – Last week’s winner will look to keep his run of good form going as he plays in his home country. He’s finished in the top-20 in all three former instalments of this event.

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Key Holes:

14th and 15th. The 14th is a short par-4 of just 330 yards. It turns gently from right to left and offers the longer hitters a chance of reaching with a well-shaped drive. The 15th is then a reachable par-5 of 530 yards. The players will expect to play these two in two-under-par, and anything worse than that will feel like chances wasted.