Rumford searching for spark
Brett Rumford is hoping the comforts of home will help him rediscover his best when he tees off at the Perth International this morning.
By his own admission, the 37-year-old West Australian has had an average year.
After producing the best golf of his career in 2013 when he scored consecutive European Tour wins, Rumford's 2014 results make for dismal reading. He has made just nine cuts in 22 events.
Yesterday he was at a loss to explain why.
"It's just the world's hardest game to play, no doubt about it," he said. "It's exhausting.
"I was just on the wrong side of the momentum seemingly."
But this week Rumford has returned to a course he knows intimately and has played well at in the past, including a sixth placing in last year's tournament.
He said consistency was the key to turning his game around.
"The last couple of weeks I've been seeing some good signs," he said.
"My scoring hasn't really reflected the changes that I'm making, but I'm starting to feel a bit more room in my golf swing and a bit more free.
"I'm hoping that can translate this week into just making a cut.
"I'll take it just one step at a time, just trying to get a weekend under my belt, a full, competitive tournament and continue from there."
Rumford conceded he would probably need to win the $1.75 million tournament to take his place at the Race to Dubai final series.
"I'm that far behind (in the points race)," he said.
"If I don't, I'll just continue to work hard over the summer and focus on the Australian tournaments.
"I didn't play any last year, so I'm really excited."
Rumford predicted low scores because the greens seemed to be softer than usual.
"I think it's a really fair golf course," he said.
"If you play well, you'll get rewarded.
"On the flip side of that, if you're not quite on it's going to be hard to back up each day, to get away with just getting it up and down and relying on your short game."
