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THE BARCLAYS

August 29, 2015

Justin Rose

Edison, New Jersey

Q. Justin, 12-under the last two case, what's changed so much since the first round out there?
JUSTIN ROSE: You know, I wish I could tell you. I didn't flip a magic switch. What I did know is that after the majors, I felt peaked. I put a lot of effort into the major this is year and coming into the Playoffs, I kind of felt like I was dragging a bit. Tuesday was a struggle; Wednesday was a struggle; Thursday was a struggle. My body hurt, everything hurt. I just had nothing in the tank.

Obviously I think coming out Friday with nothing to lose and having to shoot a great round and just shifting my mind-set, having to shoot low to make the cut kind of changed things. I started to see some birdies go in and your confidence starts getting going and suddenly the body doesn't hurt anymore. It was nice to get some momentum yesterday and carry that through into today.

Q. Have you seen the course change a little bit from Thursday to today at all?
JUSTIN ROSE: They are still putting water on the golf course. Obviously it's a dry, windy afternoon, so the moisture disappears pretty quick. I think this morning was critical to make the most of it. We had a beautiful day.

I mean, J.J. said to me walking down the third, he said, "What a perfect morning," and it was. It was like 70 degrees, a bit of moisture on the golf course, no wind. Towards the end of our round you could feel it was getting tricky, the wind picks up a little bit. Great to make the most of the conditions this morning.

Q. Good to go out early and take advantage?
JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, obviously 8:20 this morning, a bit of moisture on the golf course, no wind. Even J.J. said to me walking down 3, "What a perfect morning for golf."

It was nice to make the most of those conditions and have some birdies. You could feel it beginning to shift the last sort of five or six holes. Could you feel the breeze get up. The wind swirls on this golf course, so we had a very slightly different wind direction today, too, which obviously made you pay attention. Yeah, we capitalized early in the round.

Q. Yesterday you made your little come back on the back nine to make the cut, so this last day and a half, you've played some really, really good golf.
JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, absolutely. Yesterday I had a nothing-to-lose kind of day. Didn't really have any expectation of making the cut. Thursday was so poor and to be honest with you, didn't feel into the week. Didn't really like the golf course too much. Couldn't see my lines off the tees.

Something shifted on Friday. A few birdies and once I got a sniff of the cut, I felt into the week. The pressure of making the cut sometimes is harder than trying to win a tournament. I was pretty nervous playing the last few holes yesterday because it meant a lot to me to make the cut.

The up-and-down I made on 9 to make the cut was probably the best I made all week.

Q. 77 is a distant memory now because you're back in the game.
JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, it's a great learning lesson. Or you re-learn lessons sometimes, and shows you're never out of the tournament.

Maybe Thursday I didn't hang tough enough. I finished double-bogey in my round there and just shows you how critical those shots are. Hopefully I can make it all up on Sunday. But hey, if I can get closer, you kind of look back and think, if I had just hung a bit tougher on Thursday and kept that round a bit cleaner -- there's no reason, as poorly as I played on Thursday, that I couldn't have shot 72.

But to be fair to myself, I just didn't have the energy to grind. And sometimes you just need to accept that, brush it off, don't take it too seriously, don't question your game and just say it was a bad day and come back and do your best.

Q. Obviously you like this place a little better now?
JUSTIN ROSE: It's growing on me again. I finished sixth when we last played here, 2011. So there's definitely elements of the golf course that I know how to play. Weirdly, early in the week, every time I saw one of those steep greens, I felt like I couldn't keep it on the green. Didn't set up to my eye. I've slowly sort of got the feel of the golf course.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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