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FORT WORTH INVITATIONAL

May 25, 2018

Justin Rose

Fort Worth, Texas

Q. Justin, seemed like a very Hogan-esque round of ball-striking.
JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, I did a lot of good things today. I think, you know, the end of my round got a little scrappy, but until the last three holes it was pretty flawless. I think I hit every fairway pretty much and obviously every green to that point.

Actually, I left a few out there on the greens early but didn't get frustrated.

(Indiscernible) had a word with me and Fulch just said, Hey, mate, just kind of stay patient. That was great advice because I made a little 8-, 10-footer which took the lid off the hole, my 5th hole of the day.

From there got into a nice rhythm really. Yeah, the way I played through -- I guess through my first 15 holes today was about as good as I've played in a long time.

Q. You talk about patience. What are the unique challenges of Colonial and how patience factors into that?
JUSTIN ROSE: Every hole tempts you to hit driver in a way, you know. Every hole is just wide enough to hit driver, but it's narrow enough if you miss it it's going to be -- you're going to have some type of challenge.

The fairway bunkers are so good here you can almost challenge them and feel like if you're in them it's not such a penalty because they play firm. You don't get many balls that sit down in these bunkers. I think that's why guys do tend to be aggressive.

It's the type of rough here where you catch a lot of fliers and the greens are small and tricky. So catching fliers into these greens you'll make a lot bogeys. For me, keeping it in play. I'm pretty confident in my iron play right now. If I am around that 150, then I'm pretty comfortable right now.

Q. With Shinnecock coming up, how does playing at Colonial factor in to maybe get you more prepared for the U.S. Open?
JUSTIN ROSE: It was more the run of form really. I feel like if I didn't play here it was going to be a little spotty going into the U.S. Open. I felt like I wanted to play enough golf where I would have a good read on my game going into Shinnecock.

So rather than the venue it was more the timing, but it's obviously it's just such a bonus to be on a great layout like this.

Q. All facets of your game seem to be really coming around at the right time. How confident are you for the U.S. Open?
JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, all aspects of my game are showing signs for sure. I think Sundays at The PLAYERS Championship I felt like I worked into a slightly different feel, which really helped Sean and I kind of dial in a few things we've been working on. We had a good productive week last week training-wise.

It was nice to bring as good as you feel on the range to the tournament this week. Yeah, chipping, again, I'm feeling pretty comfortable with that. Putting it is what it is, right? You've got make a you few putts. Showed signs of doing that today.

Q. Brilliant round today: 64, seven birdies, one bogey. You talked yesterday about working with Sean Foley and how it's really clicking. What specifics have you been working on?
JUSTIN ROSE: I feel like I tend to shift into my left side too quickly. When I do that, ironically I get ahead of it, but I also then try and cleave that by throwing the club out a little bit, and the club actually gets too far in front of me.

I feel like if I can put the club behind me, it helps me really hit the ball much more with my body in my turn. So I feel like I'm playing with more lag off my right leg, if that makes any sense. Those are my feels anyway.

The good thing is as a player that's what you need, a simple feel. Whether it sounds technical, it doesn't matter. I might have two or three swing thoughts out there, but they're kind of encapsulated into one feel, and that's what I'm working on when I am out on the golf course.

Q. Today the putter started to cooperate a little bit better. You had many, many looks yesterday.
JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah.

Q. They started going in today.
JUSTIN ROSE: Absolutely. First four holes of my round today I missed a bunch as well, so I was kind of getting a little frustrated. Fulch kind of said, Come on, mate. Stay with me. Stay patient. I got rewarded with the very next hole making a 10-footer for birdie. That got things going.

Yeah, I made enough good putts on the back nine today where I have some confidence going into the weekend.

Q. 66 yesterday; 64 today; seven birdies. Great tee-to-green, especially on the first 15 holes. What did you like most about your game today?
JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, I think I definitely the tee to green. I was very comfortable off the tee. Hit a lot of fairways today. If you do that on this golf course, you start to get looks.

I think the rough is tough enough around here if you catch a bad lie it's hard to get it to the green. If you have a decent lie, huge fliers in play around here. The greens are small ball. If the ball is in play it takes it out of the equation.

I chanced my luck a little bit. Hit a bad tee shot on 18. I did the right things at the right time today. I was getting a little frustrated early in my round not making a few putts, and then made a putt at the right time, which kind of just kept my head up and kept things moving forward.

I had a nice run I guess my 6th, 7th, 8th? 9th, 10th, and 11th holes. Middle of my round.

Q. After yesterday's round when we chatted you said you played with about 90% precision and 10% distance in your first round. What strategy did you take to the course today?
JUSTIN ROSE: Actually a little more aggressive today actually, which paid off. Hit drivers on holes like No. 3 today, No. 2. Those are holes that I didn't hit driver yesterday. Like I said yesterday, it was based on pin placement rather than trying to force anything off the tee. (Indiscernible - background noise.)

Yeah, I was a bit more aggressive today.

Q. What do you take from the day?
JUSTIN ROSE: Really good days' work today. I thought the course was a little trickier than yesterday. I haven't really looked at the leaderboard or the scores, but it seems like there were maybe a few less good scores this morning than there were yesterday morning. Maybe a little to do with the breeze. It was a little windier today. Could be pin placements, too.

Yeah, obviously I got the run of the course today. I played well. I was happy with my game. I hit it really good off the tee for the most part. Able to capitalize with some iron play and make just enough put.

Ts. Early in my round I was getting a little frustrated some of the putts weren't falling, but then I guess from my 5th hole around to about my 11th, 12th, hole I really got on a nice run.

Q. Anything you're doing differently when you played here before or just good form right now?
JUSTIN ROSE: You know, no. Even if you love a golf course you can never guarantee you're going to turn up and have your game that particular week, right?

So from 2010 to now, no, nothing too different. Although I did start to play well around this time in 2010. Memorial was my first PGA TOUR win. Maybe it's biorhythm thing more than a golf course thing.

Q. (Indiscernible.)
JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, yeah.

Q. (Indiscernible.)
JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, so last three holes got a bit scrappy. Felt like No. 7 was -- I had a wedge into that pin. I was being aggressive there. Just missed it to the left. It was an easy up and down. It's always a bonus when you chip in.

Then 8 and 9 were playing tough today. I was caught between clubs on No. 8 and went with a 6-iron and just kind of tried to move it out to the right; came up short. It was a tough up and down. Wasn't able to salvage that.

And I missed a fairway on No. 9, which is really what you can't do on that hole. I had a bit of a dicey 50/50 lie, and just trusted that it was going to jump a little bit. But we were playing those factors, is it going to jump and there was some wind into and you're trying to hit it into a tight front pin.

So I was dicing with a little bit of danger there. My ball covered by a yard or two only, but once it was dry I was pretty happy with my days' work.

Q. The mindset now? (Indiscernible.)
JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, you know, I would expect some guys in the afternoon to get close to that. I would expect to be in around the lead tomorrow for sure going into tomorrow.

Yeah, not going to pay too much attention this afternoon; not going to stress about it. Going to have a late tee time tomorrow; going to be playing in the heat. For me, it's all about resting up, getting rehydrated, and coming out strong tomorrow.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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