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CHARLES SCHWAB CHALLENGE

June 12, 2020

Justin Rose

Fort Worth, Texas

JUSTIN ROSE: It was a bit more of a struggle today. I was just saying that I felt like obviously a great start, birdie-birdie, felt up and running, great tee shot at No. 3, chased a pin that I shouldn't have, and I felt like that's where I wasn't as sharp today. A couple of mental errors kicked in, wasn't quite as patient with the golf course as I needed to be, forced the issue a little bit off the 10th tee, trying to get it down there to get a gap wedge in my hand to that pin, and like forcing it a touch. This golf course can bite you, and the other thing I felt today was I was just in between clubs all day and had a hard time really committing to the one shot that I needed, and yeah, I had to fight for the score. I think it was harder.

Today felt like a little bit more of the rust that might have been there after three months was apparent, but still happy to shoot under par, I suppose, and just stay in touch with the leaders, and yeah, good weekend ahead.

My overall assessment of how I swung the club today was better than yesterday. I just felt like mentally I wasn't as with it as I was yesterday. Like I said, just kind of chased a couple of the wrong pins, forced the issue off one tee box, which -- and didn't trust the wind the whole day. It was moving around. It was quite light but just enough to kind of get in your head. Didn't trust the wind. So just mentally I wasn't quite on it today.

Kind of fought hard, had to fight hard. It was probably one of those days watching me play didn't look like a lot of fun, but those days are sometimes needed. I think it was a day where I had to look inward a little bit and just sort of talk to myself and stay positive because it could have gone dark side quite easy today.

Q. A lot of the guys atop the leaderboard, top players in the world playing here for the first time. What do you make of those guys that are here seeing the course for the first time that are playing so well?
JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, scoring is obviously good. I think it's the kind of golf course if you do go out and play well and you're on your game you're going to have a lot of birdies, with the greens being soft. This golf course is a different animal good the greens get firm. You look at the Wall of Champions over there and single digits can win around here and 20-under par can win around here. It very much depends on the softness or firmness of the greens. But yeah, stellar leaderboard. It's a great field this week, and it's a testament to the golf course that the top players have kind of worked their way into position.

Q. I wanted to ask you, every player, caddie is wearing the name of a healthcare worker on the back. It's a nod to all those on the front line of this pandemic, and yours particularly is Alan Kramer, who's been instrumental into how the healthcare system has been turned upside down, countless hours put into working, to arranging for Teladoc to prevent people from going into hospitals and from being exposed. What do you make of the initiative and having that name right alongside your name?
JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, no, that's a huge honor to have Mr. Kramer's name right next to mine. We've been at home for three months. People who are obviously working on the front lines probably haven't seen their family for three months. It's been a complete stark contrast. Certain areas and certain sectors have been stretched to the absolute max, and obviously healthcare workers have been absolute champions and true heroes in all of this.

To recognize them in any way is important, but it's a fun initiative, and it's something cool, and hopefully walking down the fairway on Sunday afternoon can bring a smile to Alan Kramer's face if we're in contention and maybe just give him a little bit of light relief I suppose after what's been a pretty tough few months for them all.

Q. What does it mean to you to be able to sponsor the ladies' event?
JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, I mean, I don't know what it means to me, but I just kind of felt very aware that I was coming back out on TOUR and had this opportunity to get cracking with the FedExCup and play in the Charles Schwab Challenge, one of these great PGA TOUR events, and resume my career and get going. I was just very aware that some other professional golfers, especially the ladies, didn't seem to have that opportunity. It's obviously sad that the Evian Championship has now also kind of been scrapped off the list of what they can start to prepare for.

The prize money is relatively modest, but as professional golfers I just felt like it's important to have an outlet, somewhere to play, something to practice for, to sharpen your skills. We're not like, okay, go back to work, turn on the computer and you're ready to go. Professional athletes have to keep their skill sets going. That was my thinking really, how do we create something that gives the ladies something to work towards so when the big tournaments do come later in the year they're ready to go. It's just something that I tried to do in England, and yeah, it's been well-received for sure, and I think it's been nice. Actually we've had a couple of interesting -- people kind of trying to match the sponsorship, so hopefully we can make it more exciting for the ladies, but for me I was just aware of the opportunities that I had, and I was just trying to pay that forward.

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