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BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

September 19, 2019

Justin Rose

Surrey, England

Q. 5-under, well-played today. What was the key out there, especially on the back nine?
JUSTIN ROSE: I think I just reset a little bit. I three-putted after getting very lucky. I pulled a couple tee shots on No. 9. Found my first ball. Hit it on the green and then three-putted.

But I just felt like that was a turning point in a bad way in my round. I felt like I played the first eight holes really cleanly and then I just -- so I reset really quickly. I think on the 11th hole I started to reset. I said to myself, I was 3-down, started to play match play against the course. There's three par 5s coming in so I said, you're 3-down, see if you can beat the course and that's what I did. I played the remaining eight holes 4-under.

So can't take too much credit with the long game. My short game was I think what kept me in it. A couple key saves when I missed the greens, kept my up-and-downs going, played the par 5s well. Yeah, my short game was I guess what got me in the clubhouse at 5-under today.

Q. How nice is it to be back here playing this event, playing this course with the home fans supporting you out there?
JUSTIN ROSE: It's brilliant. It's such a bonus with the weather, as well. Everyone is enjoying being outside. It's almost nicer than summer. It's got that nice crispness in the air as well, and the golf course, I've never seen it better. I think it's really settled after all the changes through the years they have made, I think they have found their feet.

Scoring obviously was fairly low in the end but 4-under par kind of held its position, fourth, fifth place. That kind of shows that the golf course is tough enough, too, even in benign weather like this.

Q. Just a word on the mishap at the start of the week?
JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, it's a little tender, but I can get through the ball, and I can hit and I can swing, which is obviously almost all you need to do. I've got to make sure I walk as properly as possible.

By limping, your hip starts to hurt. Your back starts tightening up. Just slipped on a wet surface, really, and my knee got caught and as I went forward, my knee didn't, and yeah, so it was one of those moments that could have been bad, but I got away with it, so I feel very lucky.

Q. That's a start that kind of sort of gives credence to that.
JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, absolutely. It's a very good start, a good score. Obviously there are elements of my game that were great, elements that weren't so good.

I felt like I sort of got fatigued towards the end of the round from the ball-striking point of view, although my best swing of the day I felt was the second shot I hit into 18. Even though it went long, it went on my line with a great strike.

I felt like I was in-between clubs all day today, and that made it tricky and that's typical for Wentworth. The wind never settles. Even though it's hardly blowing today, it was like three-, four-mile-an-hour, but it never really found its position and that's classic of Wentworth, which makes trying to hit your irons really close to the hole difficult.

Q. How big a concern was the knee heading into this?
JUSTIN ROSE: Obviously Monday, I went for a scan and I didn't know if I had torn my meniscus or ACL. It could have been a whole myriad of things, because it's been not great, really. There's no ligament strain, so it's just some bruising or whatever. It's a situation where just toughen up and get on with it.

Q. Looking at the rest of the week, you've given yourself a platform.
JUSTIN ROSE: It's a great start. Hopefully I can get stronger and feel a little bit looser, easier, every day between now and obviously I'm almost looking at it as a two-week project between now and the end of the Dunhill Links.

But obviously when you go ahead and score like that, you know that you can go out and compete, so it's great.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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