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TURKISH AIRLINES OPEN

November 3, 2018

Justin Rose

Antalya, Turkey

Q. Not a very Rosey-like round of golf, six birdies and four bogeys. Give us your take on it?
JUSTIN ROSE: Struggled with my focus today I felt, concentration really, and made a couple questionable decisions out there. Yeah, little simple things like the last hole, really. I knew 5-wood was probably the right club off the tee but I knew it was a tougher pin and sort of tried to force the issue a little bit because 3-wood ran out of the bunkers today and not quite as patient maybe.

You know, the par 5 again, maybe No. 15 again, just slightly impatient decisions. But yeah, maybe just a little bit of tiredness, I don't know, but focus today was probably the biggest difference.

Q. What was going through your mind what you saw Haotong going ballistic?
JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, it's this kind of golf course. I expected people to make runs. I knew I was in good position though. Still I had a poor finish. Had an opportunity to get within one or get close to him going into tomorrow. I'm delighted where I'm at going into tomorrow but I feel like I could have been a couple closer. Obviously he's had his great round today, and the great thing I get to play in the last group and have a chance to win.

I think it's exactly the same situation I was in last year. I believe I was three back last year. To this point it's all water under the bridge, isn't it. So you just have to come out tomorrow like I did today and play well.

Q. Tomorrow you have the opportunity, not only to win this tournament but to successfully defend for the first time to get back to world No. 1. How do you get that out of your mind and focus on shot by shot?
JUSTIN ROSE: I mean, in some ways, I feel like there's nothing to lose tomorrow and all those things you just mentioned to gain. To come out and free wheel and play for that, I'm going to have to shoot in the mid 60s to make that possibility. That's the mentality. It's actually going to be a bit easier than being one ahead, so from that point of view, nothing really to lose and everything to gain.

Q. Third round 69, starting the final round three strokes back, you mentioned your focus wavered today. Is it easier to deal with that than maybe if you had an issue with your game?
JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, I think so. I didn't drive the ball well, either. There's many things I could pick holes in today if I wanted to. For the most part I was up and around the lead and doing a decent job.

From the 10th hole onwards, things seemed a bit more of a struggle, so I don't know, it's getting towards the end of a long season, so I just have to make sure that tomorrow I come out and put a little extra emphasis on the patience and the mental side rather than just feeling like everything is going simply and smoothly. You can maybe sometimes win -- you're playing a golf course like this and you're not making many mistakes. Maybe I just lost a little sharpness today. That will be back tomorrow.

Q. Can you take anything from Sunday last year?
JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, I've won many tournaments from a few back. It's a position where there's everything to gain, nothing to lose and you can free wheel at it a little bit.

Haotong has obviously played a great round today and sometimes it's hard to back up a low one with another low one. There's enough guys behind; there's a bunch of guys that can go out and shoot 62, 63, 64, 65 on the golf course. One of the chasing pack is going to do that, so that's going to be the mentality from me and a few other guys.

Q. Your thought on the round?
JUSTIN ROSE: Nice to bounce back. Again, a good bogey walking off the 10th hole. The 10th hole has not been too good to me this week. Hopefully I can stand up there tomorrow and rip a drive.

Again, it's always how you bounce back. To go birdie, birdie there -- I made a mental goal on the 11th goal to try and make four birdies coming in. I went birdie, birdie there, and didn't pan out of the rest of the way, but I tried to regroup after that birdie on 10.

Q. Six birdies, four bogeys today. It was an up-and-down kind of day, wasn't it?
JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, it was. A few more mental errors out there. Wasn't quite sharp. Didn't drive the ball as well as I have been. Yeah, three balls in the water today. I guess if I look at that, three penalty shots, still shot 69, so there's a lot of good stuff happening still. Just have to clean up some of those silly mistakes today.

Q. Nice to bounce back with the two birdies in a row and get yourself back ahead again?
JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, I was comfortable with my position in the tournament at that point. I birdied 11 and 12, and knew Haotong was going well, and with so much golf to play, I wasn't too concerned if I was going to be one ahead or one behind at that point.

Disappointing finish puts me three back going into tomorrow, but again, so much golf to be played and not too fussed about the position at the moment.

Q. What can you draw from last year, bearing in mind you've done it before?
JUSTIN ROSE: I've done it here and I've done it a few other places. Three back, there's nothing to lose, and a mentality, that you have to put the foot down and go for it. That's going to be the mentality tomorrow for sure.

It doesn't mean just reckless golf and chasing every flag. You've got to pick your moments to be aggressive and sometimes 15 foot is a great shot and you've got to trust the putter. Any time you win a tournament, you tend to putt well, so that will be the game plan tomorrow, just to try and hit as many good shots and give myself as many chances as possible.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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