SWEDEN'S Per-Ulrik Johansson will defend his Inteco Russian Open title this week hoping memories of last year's triumph can re-ignite a lacklustre season.
Last year's event looked to have resurrected Johansson's career when the Swede cruised to a six-shot victory at Le Meridien Moscow Country Club.
It was the former Ryder Cup player's first European Tour title in a decade and was never in doubt fro
m the moment he shot a superb second round of 62.
However, the 41-year-old has struggled to repeat that impressive form in 2008, making just five cuts in 12 events and failing to register a single top-ten finish so far to lie 179th on the Order of Merit.
And history is against Johansson successfully defending the title. Yorkshire's Iain Pyman is the only man to have won the title twice (1999 and 2002) in the event's 12-year history.
Also in the field in Moscow is former Open champion John Daly, who will be looking to bounce back after missing the cut at Royal Birkdale last week.
The former Open champion has already played three other regular European Tour events in 2008, but made the cut in just one, finishing in a tie for 23rd in the Italian Open in Milan. Former Ryder Cup players Peter Baker and Jarmo Sandelin will also be looking to take advantage of a tournament that will be missing Europe's big names in the wake of the Open Championship.
The full article contains 250 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
