Augusta: The bloom of azaleas and magnolias at Augusta Nationwide Golf Membership is a sight to behold, however a solitary Rose turned the speaking level after the opening spherical of the 89th Masters Match.
Justin Rose hits his tee shot on the 14th gap in the course of the second spherical on the Masters on Friday in Augusta. (AP)
England’s Justin Rose almost lapped the sphere on the primary day itself, opening a three-shot lead after a blistering romp on the hallowed grounds that resulted in eight birdies – three of them within the first three holes as he galloped off the gates – and a closing bogey on the 18th gap.
After profitable at the least one title yearly from 2010 to 2019, together with the 2016 Rio Olympic gold medal and the 2013 US Open, the 44-year-old world No. 39 is having fun with a revival in kind. It began with a tied sixth end on the PGA Championship final 12 months, adopted by a rousing tied second on the Open Championship at Royal Troon in treacherous climate.
Rose is asking it his ‘Indian summer’.
“I think for me at the PGA Championship at Valhalla, it was a golf course that shouldn’t really suit me. It was a bit of a bomber’s paradise. I was in the hunt with a few holes to go there and I ended up finishing T6th, but I was a lot more in the tournament than that finish suggests. The fact that I had those types of results on those types of courses gave me a lot of hope,” defined Rose.
“And then, at the Open Championship again, I felt like I actually played the golf there to win and played through some of the toughest weather conditions that week and still had a great opportunity on Sunday. Again, more evidence that when the big stage is there, I can kind of bring my game and still compete with the best players in the world.
“If you know that in your head, that gives you the motivation to then still work hard. If you don’t quite feel like you can do it, or you don’t feel quite like you can play at an elite level, then practice becomes hard. I think those couple weeks were big motivating weeks where I thought the hard work is still worth it, and gave me the belief I can shake it with the best.
“I’m excited about my Indian Summer. I’m 44…golf is not going to get easier for me in the next five, 10 years. So, your opportunity is less going forward. You have to make the most of it.”
The putter was particularly sizzling for Rose. If a 25-footer for birdie on the difficult opening gap supplied the momentum, a 28-footer for par on the fourth helped keep it. A 19ft birdie putt on the seventeenth was learn to perfection. The one quick putt he missed was a five-footer for birdie on the thirteenth gap.
That is the fifth time in 19 Masters appearances that Rose finds himself on high of the leaderboard. The doubtful facet of that document is that he’s the one participant with that many leads to not have received a Inexperienced Jacket as but.
“You know what, I feel like I’ve played well enough to win this tournament. I just feel like I don’t have the Jacket to prove it. I’ve obviously played a lot of good rounds of golf here.
“But ultimately, you want to be last man standing on Sunday, and I was a shot shy in 2017 and it could have gone any which with Sergio (Garcia) way down the stretch. A little bit of Lady Luck is always the difference here at times.
“I’ve had my luck on occasion and been a champion (in other tournaments). But you’ve got to be playing the golf to keep creating those opportunities, and obviously, the only way to do that is to get your name on the leaderboard.”
Alongside Rose, a giant Thursday story was one other painful opening spherical for Rory McIlroy in his quest for a profession grand slam and a primary Inexperienced Jacket. The world No.2 appeared like on cruise management at 4-under par by way of 14 holes, earlier than making deflating double bogeys on the fifteenth and seventeenth.