JUSTIN ROSE knows he must hit the ground running in the Cisco World Matchplay Championships at Wentworth on Thursday.

With five players from the world's top ten in this week's field, the 22-year-old Hampshire star realises there is no margin for error in Thursday's first round.

He has resolved not be caught cold like the last time he played Wentworth's West Course in the Volvo PGA Championship in May. Rose suffered a triple bogey seven after four putting on the notorious two-tiered third green and never recovered. He finished with a 74 and missed the cut by a couple of shots.

One good thing about matchplay is that you can have a bad hole, but as Rose looks around at the opposition this week, he knows he must be at the top of his game and a good solid last round of 69 in the Dunhill Links Championship last week had the hallmark of Rose when his game was at its strongest in the first half of the season.

The death of his father Ken in September understandably took the edge off his play but he says he is focused on his golf again and is looking forward to Wentworth, a course he knows well but respects.

First time he played in the Volvo PGA Championship in 2000 he finished a respectable 31st. But with its tight pine-guarded fairways it is unforgiving.

It calls for an intricate game but Rose, who as an amateur got desperately close to at least two national matchplay finals, is fiercely competitive.

And he is resilient. When Great Britain and Ireland were mauled by the United States in the Walker Cup in Rose's last year as an amateur, he was one of the few UK players who actually won his singles.

His invitation to the World Matchplay Championship is well merited in a year when he has won four tournaments, risen to 37th in the world rankings and become England's number one player. But he has the dubious distinction of coming into the prestigious event when it boasts one of its strongest fields for years. The European Tour's top three players - Retief Goosen, Ernie Els and Padraig Harrington - head an entry which includes former champions Colin Montgomerie, Nick Faldo and Vijay Singh.

If they were not enough Sergio Garcia and Michael Campbell are looking for their first win in the competition while the north American challenge is provided by Canadian left-hander Mike Weir and Fred Funk, who was a front-runner in the recent US PGA Championship.

This week's Cisco-sponsored tournament carries a £1m prize fund with the winner pocketing a cool £250,000. That sort of money would lift Rose (currently eighth) into the top five in the order of merit.

Draw and tee-off times (Thursday)

9am and 1.15pm (8) Michael Campbell (Nzl) v Nick Faldo. Winner to play (1) Ian Woosnam

9.15am and 1.30m (5) Padraig Harrington v Mike Weir (Can). Winner to play (4) Sergio Garcia (Spa)

9.30am and 1.45pm (6) Vijay Singh v Justin Rose. Winner to play (3) Retief Goosen (Rsa)

9.45am and 2pm (7) Colin Montgomerie v Fred Funk (USA). Winner to play (2) Ernie Els (Rsa)