Brett Rumford and Richard Green are the lone Australians in
the field at this week’s Aberdeen Asset Management Paul Lawrie Matchplay event
in Scotland, Rumford having his work cut out after drawing number one seed
Chris Wood in the first round.

The event, now in its second year, has proved a hit with
fans and players alike thanks to the hard work and input of the likable host,
1999 Open Champion Paul Lawrie.

The tournament sees 64 players drawn in round one with the
field halved each day until a champion is crowned Sunday.

 The matchplay format
is rarely seen in Professional golf and almost always throws up some of the
best golf and most surprising results.

Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat, far from the favourite at
the start of the week, won the inaugural tournament last year over another
surprise finalist, Robert Karlsson.

Both Rumford and Green will be hoping for upsets in their
first round matches, Rumford facing a particularly difficult match against
reigning BMW PGA champions Chris Wood.

Wood is the number one seed in the tournament though
withdrew from The Open three weeks ago with a neck injury and also missed the
cut at last week’s PGA.

Rumford, too, has been in a somewhat of a slump with six
straight missed cuts meaning both players will likely be pleased to be playing
matchplay rather than stroke.

Wood made it to the quarterfinals at the tournament last
year before being bundled out by David Howell while Rumford didn’t play as he
continued to recover from surgery earlier in the year.

While Rumford will have his hands full with Wood Richard
Green will also need to be at his best in his match against Lee Slattery.

Slattery has been in consistent form for most of 2016 with
two fourth place finishes while Green has found the going tough and has missed
his last three cuts.