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U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 14, 2018

Justin Rose

Southampton, New York

Q. How do you feel about the round?
JUSTIN ROSE: Happy it's over. I'm very happy with that style, though, for sure. Woke up this morning very early, 4:30, got in the shower, got dressed, had a cup of tea. Good start to the day.

Got in the car, didn't pay much attention. Arrived here, I'm like whoa, what's going on? The wind, the flags were already, you know, fluttering dead straight. So I knew I was in for a tough day when I saw that, and then I heard it was going to pick up even more around 11:00. I'm not sure if it did or it didn't. It was a tough day.

I think, starting out, I thought 7:29 would be a good tee time today. It could still remain to be a good tee time today. I don't know what the forecast is. I think the wind's going to stay up. If it dries out even more, see less perfect greens in the afternoon, I was very happy to get the round out of the way this morning.

Q. You've had great results and a recent win this year. I mean, do you feel you're really back in top form? If so, how does it make you feel mentally coming into the tournament?
JUSTIN ROSE: I feel like I've been playing good golf the best part of a year now, I would say. You're going to have your little wins and those swags that come along, but I've won fairly consistently in the last six, eight months. That's been good.

I feel like more so thinking about the U.S. Open, the last month has been good. I was saying up there earlier that, yeah, you prepare for this the week before. But also, in the back of your mind, you're preparing for a Major three, four weeks ahead of time. You prepare your schedule three, four weeks ahead of time to make sure you come in here as best you can.

Having a win recently, playing well at Memorial, I had a chance to rest a bit last week. So, yeah, I'm coming in here as good as I can feel.

Q. Justin, how valuable is experience dealing with this? Ten years ago, how would you have handled these conditions?
JUSTIN ROSE: It's hard. Ten years ago, I was capable of shooting that round for sure, no question. But it's a hard question to answer. Probably more likely to have done it now, for sure.

I'm aware of the big picture of this tournament, I think, and I think I knew what today was all about. It was about hanging in there. If I'd a shot 72 or 73, it would be a good day's work as well. Today is about eliminating a bad round, and I think it's turned into a really positive start.

Just really working hard out there to make sure nothing slips away. I definitely hit my share of poor shots at times, but I was able to make a couple of great up and downs when I needed to just to keep the momentum going. But I also feel like there were moments in my round when I could have made some midrange putts to really have a great day.

Q. You drive the ball really well today. You looked confident standing over with the driver. Was the wind and the way the course was set up dictating more drivers than you otherwise would have otherwise anticipated?
JUSTIN ROSE: There were plenty of drivers for sure. Holes like 18, you could almost hit 3 wood today, but I hit driver and ended up going with gap wedge, so it made second shots much easier. No. 3 was another hole that I was between 3 wood/driver but split the fairway with driver, and that made the hole much easier than it could have been. When I was 50/50, I made the right call and most importantly then committed to it. The fact I hit 13 out of 14 fairways made the course playable. At least have looks at birdies with some decent irons.

Q. As you go around the course and see some of the best players in the world with huge numbers, what do you think about that? And can you describe the mental discipline it took on your part to not give into that?
JUSTIN ROSE: Right, yeah. I think obviously, if you drive the ball poorly, you're in trouble for a start. There are plenty thick enough where you're not being able to get to the green and around the green.

If you play really good golf, you're still a bit on the defensive side. I hit so many putts today, you're trying to make the putt but you're trying not to knock it four foot by. Around the cup, there are so many changes of slope. So you can be putting uphill all the way to the hole, but two or three feet after the hole, it goes up and over and away. So very tough to judge the speed.

Another thing I found really tough today is I have a downhill putt, but it's into the wind. You don't know which to factor more. Is it going to trickle out because it's downhill, or is it going to be held up because it's into the wind? That was really tough to gauge out there.

Q. You talked about (no microphone). Do you enjoy these conditions?
JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, I enjoy it. It's a different type of enjoyment, right? It's a sort of I enjoy the battle. I enjoy the fight. I enjoy the grind, really. Yeah, I do. I do enjoy it, especially when you're on the right side of the fight.

When you get a bit cut up and bruised, it can change pretty quick.

Q. Appreciate it.
JUSTIN ROSE: Thanks a lot.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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