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VOLVO PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 28, 2004

Justin Rose

SURREY, ENGLAND

SCOTT CROCKETT: Thank you for coming in. Many congratulations, 66,11 under par, suffice to say, you must be delighted with the first two rounds.

JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, definitely, making plenty of birdies, obviously, which is nice. I played the par 5s well. I played them well, but the 18th was the first time I haven't birdied it. I've birdied seven out of the eight par 5s, which keeps your score ticking along here at Wentworth.

The first birdie was on the second hole. I hit 9 iron to about 15 feet there and holed a nice putt.

Third was probably the best hole I've played this week. Hit a good drive and then an 8 iron in there to about four feet.

4, 3 wood, 5 iron to 20 feet, two putts.

The Bogey, I hit it straight at the flag and then just really I forgot about the wind being off the left.

SCOTT CROCKETT: What did you hit?

JUSTIN ROSE: 7 iron. So I was in the bunker and I was expecting a bit more sand under the ball and just shot out a bit quick so made bogey there.

8, 2 iron, wedge to 12 feet.

12, driver, 6 iron to 25 feet, two putts.

16, hit 2 iron, wedge to 20 feet. It's always nice to hole a putt on that green, because it's a notoriously difficult one, so sort of a bonus.

17 was an bigger bonus, really. I scrapped my way up the hole, right rough, right rough, left rough, chip in. (Laughter.) Looked like a 4 all day, really.

Q. How far?

JUSTIN ROSE: It was probably only 20 feet from the hole.

Didn't play 18 particularly well either, but it was made easier to bear, I felt like I stole a shot on 17.

Q. What did you do on 18?

JUSTIN ROSE: I hit it in the right rough off the tee, had to lay up, I actually laid up in the right rough again and pitched up to 12 feet maybe.

Q. You had lot of pretty good putts. Has putting been the thing that has been holding you back over the last several months a little bit?

JUSTIN ROSE: Possibly, yeah.

Q. Is it sort of coming around now, do you feel?

JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, I obviously feel like I'm taking my chances a little more often, a little more regularly.

Yeah, this week I think I definitely have putted a lot better.

To be honest, in New Orleans a few weeks ago I definitely putted much better, too. So there's been some signs of putting better.

Q. Is this due to the arrival of David Leadbetter?

JUSTIN ROSE: Not really because I'm still not hitting it 100% as I'd like to. Yeah, having him here, there's some things that I can work on over the next two days. But, yeah, sort of ball striking wise, I feel like I'm a little bit still below where I'd like to be. But I seem to be not hitting too many destructive shots and still being able to get myself around the golf course, semi rough is not too bad here, really.

Q. Do you feel better than you did, say, last week?

JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, probably do. I definitely do.

Q. On putting are you still doing the things you were doing in Augusta , the one foot, weights

JUSTIN ROSE: Not really. Some similar feels but a bit more traditional now, standing on two feet.

Q. Do you feel that you learned anything at the Masters which might help you over the weekend here?

JUSTIN ROSE: You can never get ahead of yourself, really. It's just incredibly boring to tell you guys, but it's just one shot at a time.

I think maybe Augusta, it was on my mind away from the course too much, if you know what I mean. Like you sort of churn away a little bit when you should be relaxing.

I think, yeah, I will have learned something from that, for sure, just the fact that tomorrow it's not worth thinking about tomorrow till tomorrow comes, basically.

Q. Did you struggle to sleep between the second and third round, did it reach that point?

JUSTIN ROSE: I had a slightly dodgy night, yeah. (Laughter.) I think I had nine hours between waking up and teeing off.

Q. What will you do the rest of the day now to try and take your mind off things?

JUSTIN ROSE: I still feel like I need to do a bit of practice, hit a few shots, work on a couple of things. Just being at home I'm staying at home. So it's kind of a lot, lot easier to go home and relax, you know. You don't have to find just being at home is all you need.

Q. It's the pub tonight, is it?

JUSTIN ROSE: Not quite sure. Actually I think Darren Clarke is having a bit of a bash over at his house tonight.

Q. You mentioned working on a few things between now and tomorrow, is that the right time to do it, when you are at the top of the leaderboard?

JUSTIN ROSE: We're always tinkering no matter what, to be honest with you. It's just a matter of feeling 100% comfortable out there. It's all very simple stuff. You're just trying to find a little something, just a little feel that you can then take out onto the golf course with you. I mean, yeah, I've really to the naked eye, nothing is going to change. It's all internal, really, whether you feel like you're just widening up a little bit more or a little bit smoother off the top, very simple things.

It's nice it's very nice to go out on to the golf course with something positive to work on, just a swing key really helps to you stay focused and I think it's important.

Q. Have you begun to think that it's about time you won again?

JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, yeah. I mean, definitely, it's been a while, for sure. I've had a lot of good performances in between without winning, which has obviously kept me feeling relatively upbeat. But there's nothing better than actually holding up a trophy, that's for sure.

Q. When you come off the 18th there and you're leading the Volvo PGA, going back to what you said at the beginning of the week about how you used to pester the professionals, and now you're being pestered, does that give you a bit of a kick; that the circle has come around?

JUSTIN ROSE: I think it's probably one of those things that you have to sit down and think about. Because you do tend to take it all in your stride when it's happening, and you're out there on the golf course and you don't tend to reminisce that much. You kind of just, you know, it's a long process to get to where you are, and you kind of yeah, the Junior days seem so long ago that you have to really sit down and think about them again.

It is nice to be able to do that, as you say, to think, well, that was me, ten, 15 years ago, and a lot has changed. That was my dream; so I am living my dream, yeah.

Q. How old were you when you first came here?

JUSTIN ROSE: I reckon I was about 8. I'm guessing around 8.

Q. Which is the one that sticks in your mind when you came to watch?

JUSTIN ROSE: I don't have a specific they all kind of run into one, really, whether it was The Match Play or the PGA. I can't really differentiate too much.

I remember watching Faldo. Kind of watched him from close quarters today. Yeah, Faldo and Norman, really, I suppose are my two main memories.

Q. He said some quite nice things about you; what would you say about him?

JUSTIN ROSE: I think he's playing well, to be honest. He hit a lot of good iron shots. He's been working hard on his putting. He had a lot of good putts, he definitely holed a few, but the ones that didn't go in looked like they were tracking on the hole. He looked a lot more, I would say, aggressive with the putter, which I haven't played a lot with him recently, but I think that's probably a change, yeah.

SCOTT CROCKETT: Thanks again, Justin.

End of FastScripts.

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