June15 USOpenpreviewrose

By Jock Howard

“Today’s 71 was better than yesterdays,” said Justin Rose, after coming off the course after his second consecutive 71. And yet, his round could not have got off to a worse start when he got a nose bleed on the 2nd green.

“So what did you do then?” asked a member of the press corps. “I threw a bit of tissue up there and on I went,” came the reply.

You could see this broke his concentration, and he dropped shots at the 2nd, 4th and 5th holes before regaining his composure with a birdie on the 6th. With a halfway score of 2-over-par 142, he must now have a very good chance of being tonight’s leader in the clubhouse.

“Contending at Augusta this year was a big stepping stone for me,” he said. “I feel comfortable now contending in major championships. At Augusta I surprised myself with how much I enjoyed the experience.”

His round really turned around at the 9th, where his drive found a drainage ditch on the left. From there he could only hack out sideways, but he then played a delightful pitch to 5 feet and sank the par putt.

On the back nine he missed several birdie putts by a fraction, before bagging one at the par-3 16th, sinking a 10-footer.

“I’m really looking forward to the weekend now,” he said. “There are a lot of good English players out there now, and the odds of one of us winning one of these must be shortening.”

Asked to comment on fellow Englishman, Paul Casey’s 66, he said:” That’s pretty special. It’s probably 10 shots better than the average in the field.”

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