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THE 147TH OPEN

July 19, 2018

Justin Rose

Angus, Scotland, United Kingdom

Q. Justin, a positive ending. You finished well.
JUSTIN ROSE: Exactly. That was a nice way to finish. Certainly less work to do the remainder of the week. Feel like it's a start. Obviously, not great. It was an opportunity to play well and score out there today. I felt like there were a couple of moments in the round where I had some momentum. Birdied 5. Had a chance at 6. Unfortunately, bogeyed 7. And 11 and 12 had a couple of good chances. There were moments in my round when I could have gone a couple under and get going, and just when I looked like I was going to get under par, I doubled 14, which is really kind of the one birdie hole you look forward to on the back nine.

So that really took the wind out of my sails a little bit, but was able to regroup and finish strong from that point.

Q. What about the course? Is it fair? How tough is it compared to --
JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, it's not tough because it's a nice day out there. So the pins were tricky today. I think that they did a great job setting up the golf course today. I think that you have to hit fairways, and if you're not hitting fairways, where the pins were put, it was very difficult to get it close.

I think with the weather forecast being fairly calm today. I think the R&A set the course up brilliantly. You had to have quality shots to get close to holes there.

Q. No complaints there?
JUSTIN ROSE: No, no, the course was fantastic.

Q. What's your feeling heading into day two?
JUSTIN ROSE: I've got to find some momentum and just wait for my run, really. Obviously, today was slow going, just two birdies. I need to find a couple rounds where I'm making six, seven birdies a day. I feel good with the putter. I've just got to start making some of those midrange putts.

Q. Seems like a trying day all around (inaudible).
JUSTIN ROSE: I don't know, just on 6, yeah. Just a series of shots that ran off right through my backstroke and transition. Obviously, when Jordan was up (inaudible) it went on. It's one of those things that does happen out here. I let the photographer know that I was not happy about what happened, and made him aware of what happened, and that was it.

Q. (Inaudible).
JUSTIN ROSE: I am. Should be fairly easy. It's not something that's totally out of the realm what happens out here. As a links golf course, it always travels and carries. There's a little distraction out there. You do face that on a lot of shots. It was just a bit more untimely than usual. But I wouldn't say it's something that -- we're pretty used to it, to be honest.

Q. Is it harder to hear (inaudible) you're very keen to bring your best to this event, which has not always worked out for you here. Does that add to the stress factor?
JUSTIN ROSE: I'm pretty used to it now, you know what I mean? I feel like I'm -- I enjoy The Open, and I enjoy coming out and enjoy renting a house and enjoy having my family around me. It's a major. Majors are stressful. You do put some emphasis on them, and you prepare hard for them. I think that getting up for them is what I think is positive, not negative. I know how to handle pressure, and I know how to handle myself. So I don't really see that as a down side. It's just, yeah, I don't really have an explanation.

I played better golf than my record suggests. I feel comfortable with this style of golf. I haven't quite converted it into good results. But I've played good golf in The Open the last 10, 15 years.

Q. Just in terms of getting (inaudible).
JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, yeah. I think this is one less birdie I have to make on Sunday. So they're all important. To finish well, obviously, especially on a hole like that, you can as easily bogey as you can birdie. If I came off 3-over, that would be a pretty tough start. Okay, it wasn't great, but you can build on it. So, yeah, it was an important birdie for me.

Q. (Inaudible) to attack when you want to get some shots?
JUSTIN ROSE: A little bit. It has all to do with the wind direction. Never saw myself hitting driver on 17 this week at all. But just the way the wind was down to the left, covered the burn on the left-hand side, and the pin was front left, which is also a tough pin from 200 yards. Kind of knew it was a good opportunity there to try and make a birdie. Obviously, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to make the putt, but absolutely. I knew I needed something to happen, and that opportunity presents itself.

Q. Nice playing with Jordan. Things might change in a few weeks?
JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, I enjoy playing with him. He's a true pro. He had a tough finish, but he never really let it show. He was fun to play with.

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