Faldo: ''I'm not suicidal''

It was a confident Nick Faldo who turned up at Kingston Heath in Melbourne for this weeks Australian Open, the biggest event on the Australian PGA Tour calendar.

Faldo was in an upbeat mood and did not discount his return to the glory days of the past that saw him lift six major championship titles and in typical Faldo fashion, he is grinding his way back to the form that saw him at the top of his tree.

Now he is out of the world's top 100 in the rankings, Faldo finds it annoying that he seems to be "not in the same league" as the World's top players anymore.

"It is terribly frustrating. I know I can do so much better" Said Faldo. "It's very depressing but I'm not suicidal...yet".

"It's a long road back to winning a major. Maybe things will turn around next year if I start playing well and get back on the leaderboard."

The 42-year-old hopes that this week will help him back to his best as the course suits his plotting style and punishes the big hitters, of which he is not one.

"There are a lot of corners to play across, down slopes, up slopes," he said.
"It is important to position the ball well to give yourself half a chance to make birdies. A few pars on the right holes here will be a good score."

Faldo is one of few big names here in Australia and because of the weak Australian dollar, some of the best players in the world have not turned up because of the long distance to travel, the weak dollar and the huge tax deductions in Australia.

Tiger Woods has reportedly turned down over £870,000 appearance money to play in this weeks event and there is no David Duval, Mickelson, Love III, Els, Bjorn, Lehman, Singh, Garcia et al

But there are some big names to look out for such as hometown boy Robert Allenby, Stuart Appleby, Greg Norman and defending champion Aaron Baddeley, the youngest player and first amateur to win the event in 39 years.