World number 11 Rose is glad to be back on home soil at Wentworth

Justin Rose wants to kick-start his season at the PGA Championship which tees off on Thursday at Wentworth.

Rose was pipped to the 2007 title by Anders Hansen in a dramatic play-off and is determined to go one better in his first event on home soil this year.

"It's been a tough year and I'm expecting this week to be very challenging," said Rose, 27.

"But I'm expecting to be mentally strong this week and hope to kick-start the year at an event I'd love to win."

Rose claimed the European Order of Merit last year but has struggled to recapture that form in 2008.

At the Masters in April, he held the joint lead after the first round, but fell away in the second and, after five months in America, he is desperate to breathe life into his season on home soil.

"It's nice to be back," Rose told BBC Radio 5 Live. "I really needed to get back to recharge and see my family and friends.

"Last year Wentworth was a key week for me in terms of a platform for a good year, so I am hoping it will, again, be a good tournament for me to get some form going.

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Rose is paired with big-hitting US Open champion Angel Cabrera and 1994 champion Jose Maria Olazabal.

Olazabal only resumed playing in March after seven months out battling rheumatic pains but the 42-year-old Spaniard says he is still struggling with fatigue.

"I feel low on energy when I get out on the golf course," he said. "So we'll just have to see what happens."

He joked about keeping up with Rose and Cabrera, saying: "I'm going to wear some binoculars and have a cell phone with me just to let them know it's my shot."

Defending champion Hansen is also looking to join Nick Faldo, Colin Montgomerie, Bernhard Langer and Peter Alliss as the only players to win the tournament three times or more.

You look at the names I am alongside and get a sense of the importance of the PGA Championship Defending champion Anders Hansen

However, the 37-year-old Dane knows he faces a difficult task to repeat his 2007 and 2002 victories in the European Tour's flagship event.

"I think winning it twice is a fair achievement to start with," said Hansen, who forms a three-ball with Englishmen Lee Westwood and Luke Donald in the opening two rounds.

"You look at the names I am alongside and get a sense of the importance of the PGA Championship.

"I don't think the odds will be on my side this week - two wins a in a row has not happened many times."

World number three Ernie Els, Henrik Stenson, Luke Donald, Lee Westwood and ninth-ranked Vijay Singh are also among the strong field.

Els has won seven World Match Play titles on the course but has had to settle for three runners-up finishes in the PGA Championship.

Englishman David Howell, who won the event in 2006, explained how highly the tournament was regarded by the players.

"This is as big as it gets on the European Tour," he said. "Outside the four majors, this is the one to win."

The PGA Championship carries a record prize fund of �3.5m with a winner's cheque worth �596,000.