Justin Rose hopes one more long haul keeps victory drive going

Rose came second in the Masters at the start of the month

Justin Rose carded a 67 to share second place after the opening round (Getty Images)

Justin Rose is suitably prepped for the reconstituted WGC-Cadillac Match Play Championship, which begins in San Francisco today, after his 30-hole marathon to win the Zurich Classic in Louisiana on Sunday.

Weather delays in New Orleans forced Rose to take the long march to his first PGA Tour victory of the season, but mother nature was no match for the storm brewing in the Englishman’s game.

His second place at the Masters three weeks ago was the prelude to a command performance – and with no Jordan Spieth in the Zurich field, Rose was properly rewarded for his excellence, finishing 21 under par and bogey-free over his final 66 holes.

Rose arrives not only flush with confidence for the week ahead, but for his assault on the rush of majors looming.

“Earlier this year it looked impossible to win,” said Rose, who missed three cuts in the five events leading up to the Masters. “I was struggling with my game, so I’m very happy to have turned it around the last three or four weeks.

“It’s a huge boost in confidence. Playing well under pressure was the biggest thing to take from the last couple of weeks and I feel I can target the major championships all the way through the summer.”

The matchplay format has been revamped to ensure the game’s biggest names remain in the tournament at least until the weekend. The straight knockout format has been replaced with 16 groups of four – each headed by a top-16 player – with the remaining three drawn at random.

The group winners will go forward to the weekend, with eight quarter-final matches due to be played on Saturday and the semi-finals and final on Sunday. If Rose is to make it all the way to the final, he faces a second Sunday of 30 holes-plus.

“You want to get to the weekend, where you’re having to grind it out and play 36 holes a day,” Rose added. “That’s obviously a good problem to have.”

Rose is grouped with Ryan Palmer, Anirban Lahiri and Marc Leishman, with whom he plays first up today.

World No 1 Rory McIlroy resumes his season after finishing fourth at Augusta in a group featuring a trio of Americans, Billy Horschel, Brandt Snedeker and Jason Dufner.

After taking his leave on the first day of this tournament last year, McIlroy is guaranteed some high-octane action and, should he qualify, must hope the TV schedulers are kind to him if he is to make the first bell in Las Vegas for the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao extravaganza on Saturday night. The Northern Irishman has a private jet standing by to fly from California to neighbouring Nevada.

Masters winner Spieth is pitched against Lee Westwood – who won his 42nd professional title in Indonesia last week – Matt Every and Miko Ilonen.

Ian Poulter, champion in 2010, must get past Ryder Cup rivals Jimmy Walker and Webb Simpson, plus Gary Woodland, to progress. Paul Casey, who lost to Poulter in the 2010 final, Graeme McDowell and Jamie Donaldson also feature in a 30-strong European contingent.