Rose out to reel in big one at US Open after his series of near misses

Having left each of the last five major championships thinking about the one that got away, it was only fitting Justin Rose should warm up for today's start of the U.S. Open by indulging in a spot of fishing.

Shark fishing with Ian Poulter, to be precise, off the Gulf Coast of Florida. Now they have swapped last week's experience for the more familiar Tiger hunt, alongside the shores of the Pacific at Torrey Pines.

Justin Rose of Britain hits an approach shot on the 14th hole during a practice round for the 108th U.S. Open golf tournament at Torrey Pines

If the pair needed any extra motivation ahead of the year's second major, Vijay Singh might have provided it. He thinks top English players like Rose and Poulter have been guilty of resorting to the fisherman's favourite pastime of exaggerating their prowess.

Far from being on the brink of winning majors, the former world No 1 has slated them for not working hard enough.

'Lots of them start out with the right intentions and the opportunities are there to become great,' Singh said. 'But once they get on tour they find themselves having a fine time and wondering "Why should I work so hard?" Their way of life becomes too comfortable.'.

Singh's comments bear an uncanny echo to the thoughts of Nick Faldo before last year's Open, when he claimed they were all too nice and not single-minded enough. Singh, like Faldo, is a total golf obsessive and a loner.

Do you have to have that sort of personality to be a winner? The English might point to Masters champion Trevor Immelman and suggest there is another way.

It is Rose who has come closest to fulfilment, of course, finishing in the top 12 in all four majors last year and tying for the lead after the first round at the Masters this year.

He talked candidly yesterday about the soul-searching that has gone on since he went one way for the rest of the tournament while fellow co-leader Immelman went the other.

'One thing I figured out at Augusta is that a major consists of a long week in which there is nothing to get excited about until the last putt drops on Sunday,' he said.

'I am more patient now, but that is such an easy word to say and the hardest thing to learn. It's hard enough on the course in a major but that's nothing to how hard it is away from the course. There's an awful lot of time to kill, to make sure you don't get carried away.'

Rose believes he is close to putting it all together. 'I think experience is the key and if you keep putting yourself in contention you're learning all the time. People have to remember the nature of the game.

'Win three majors during the course of your lifetime and you've had a Hall of Fame career. I've still got all these years of majors ahead of me.'

Why Paul Casey, arguably the purest talent among the English contingent, has not won any majors is a frequently asked question. But when he speaks of the way he used to seek refuge on the driving range a few years ago, fearful of the major test ahead of him, you begin to realise the journey he has to make to acquire the requisite self-belief.

Casey will be part of an English threeball alongside Poulter and Luke Donald that might be a first for a U.S. Open. Donald, twice a runner-up here in the Buick Invitational, has finished third and sixth in his last two tournaments.

All told, England can field a full team, with a record 11 pros qualifying. Ireland field two contrasting souls in the strongly-fancied Padraig Harrington and little-known journeyman Chris Devlin.

Similarly, Scotland have Alastair Forsyth, playing in his first U.S. Open, and Colin Montgomerie, who might be at his last. For 15 years Monty, 45 later this month, has called this his favourite event. What he would give for a decent performance to support his view that he is not finished yet.

All eyes in these parts, of course, will be trained today on the unique grouping of the world's top three - Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Adam Scott.

Woods has not walked 18 holes since April, Mickelson was in hospital on Monday suffering from a virus and Scott is playing despite a fractured little finger. Beware the injured golfer will take on a new resonance if this stricken three-ball still manage to dominate events.

Perhaps an opportunity exists, therefore, for a European to end the long drought in this event stretching back to Tony Jacklin's win in 1970. What price an Englishman to Singh when he's winning?

SELECTED TEE-OFF TIMES FOR FIRST TWO ROUNDS OF US OPEN

1st hole start today &
10th hole tomorrow

3.55pm & 9.25pm — M
Calcavecchia, O Wilson (GB),
J Ogilvie.

4.06 & 9.36 — A Scott (A),
PMickelson, T Woods.

4.28 & 9.58 — M Campbell
(NZ), J Parnevik (Swe),
T Hamilton.

4.39 & 10.09— MAJimenez (Sp),
B Weekley, S Katayama (Jpn).

8.52 & 3.22 — S Cink, S Garcia
(Sp), V Singh (Fij).

9.03 & 3.33 — T Immelman
(SA), Z Johnson, M Weir (Can).

9.14 & 3.44 — R Goosen (SA),
S Verplank, A Baddeley (A).

9.25 & 3.55 — S Ames (Can),
R Allenby (A), B Curtis.

9.36 & 4.06 — A Cabrera
(Arg), P Harrington (Ire),
D Love.

9.58 & 4.28 — B Snedeker,
N Dougherty (GB), J Byrd.

10.09 & 4.39 — M Letzig,
R Fisher (GB), S Marino.

10.20 & 4.50 — P Archer (GB),
B Jobe, J Gore.

10th hole start today &
1st hole tomorrow:

3.22 & 8.52 — KJ Choi (Kor),
J Furyk, S Stricker.

3.55 & 9.25 — S Appleby (A),
J Kelly, L Westwood (GB).

4.39 & 10.09 — C Pettersson
(Swe), S Hansen (Den),
D Chopra (Swe)

8.41 & 3.11 — K Streelman,
A Murakami (Phi),
R Dinwiddie (GB).

9.14 & 3.44 — I Poulter (GB),
P Casey (GB), L Donald (GB).

9.36 & 4.06 — J Rose (GB),
G Ogilvy (A), E Els (SA).

10.09 & 4.39 — R Sabbatini (SA),
D Toms, C Montgomerie (GB).

10.20 & 4.50 — J Mallinger,
A Forsyth (GB), J Merrick.

10.31 & 5.01 — C Stroud,
RMcGowan (GB), I Leggatt.