MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 9, 2021

Justin Rose

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations on great play. Let me open it up to any questions.

Q. Just talk about the kind of down and up nature of today and also what were you thinking standing on 8 tee after what had happened the first seven holes?

JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, for sure, I mean, I didn't quite appreciate the scoring was going to be quite so good today. So again, I felt like the golf course was still fairly tricky the first few holes. The first six holes were always quite difficult around here. Obviously you get your birdie opportunity on No. 2. Today with a pin on No. 3, that was an obvious birdie opportunity as well, but other than that the first six holes are pretty tough.

And I always feel like if you can be even par, then great. Obviously I wasn't. I got to be a couple over today. Loose tee shot on No. 1, had to chip it out sideways and made a great two-putt from the back right of the green today to save double, I suppose, almost, at that point. No. 6, a couple feet from being pretty good but ended up having to two-putt from 60 feet at the bottom for another bogey.

I think it was just a classic day at Augusta National when you're just slightly off. You can be a foot or two out on certain occasions and you end up struggling. I think maybe off the back of yesterday, yeah, you know, it starts to feel pretty different pretty quickly. But again, I kind of told myself going up the 8th hole, you're leading the Masters, your frame of reference is a little bit different to yesterday. Four ahead is something, but you're still leading so like just enjoy it and keep going.

I was able to do that. I felt like the turning point for me, a good two-putt on No. 9 just to stop the rut and just to feel like could then just walk onto the back nine and try to build something fresh and something new. Actually started to play pretty well from that point onwards.

Q. A lot of people have said before and during this tournament, actually, that 10-under may well win this Masters. Do you agree with that, and does that affect -- do you think of scores or targets, bearing in mind you reached 7-under after 18 holes and you're close to 10-under already?

JUSTIN ROSE: I haven't really thought about that to be honest with you. It did cross my mind yesterday. I said, I wonder if I shot three 70s after yesterday if that would be good enough. You can see the leaderboard and who is stacking up behind, and I feel like there's a lot of firepower there where you can't ever really hold anyone back to a number. Like you saw me yesterday, even on a tough golf course, someone gets it going around here. You can stretch away.

But I think historically I always felt day one plays pretty tough around Augusta National, day three plays pretty difficult here at Augusta National, and then day four there's an opportunity. Guys don't historically go super low on Sunday, but there's the opportunity to go low.

You just have to keep hitting the shots. I'm not going to worry about a score. I think it's hard enough just to keep playing shot by shot rather than even sort of trying to piece scores together day-by-day.

Q. This is not necessarily regarding yesterday and today, but in general, it seems difficult for players when they have shot a super low round to back it up the next day. I know yesterday was a situation where maybe you didn't come in with expectations because you mentioned yesterday you didn't know what to expect. What is the psychological dynamic about trying to put two super low rounds back-to-back? Traditionally it is hard for guys to do.

JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, you're right, it is hard. We haven't quite figured out that dynamic; otherwise, we'd do a better job that second day. My mindset today was to be free, to go out there and play as free of golf as I could because I felt that having the opportunity to play with a lead from day one could play in my favor come Sunday. You get used to it.

My goal today was just to really -- other than the fact I was out there in front and just to try to really free up in that situation. Obviously the scorecard didn't reflect that mindset, but it was still a good exercise for me to stick with today. I felt like I actually did a pretty good job with that. I had a lot of tough four-foot putts today that -- even to save bogeys, to save pars. And I really kept the momentum going on the front nine, even though the scorecard wouldn't reflect that. I felt there were some key moments in that front nine where I was pretty proud of myself for just keeping things ticking forward.

I think it was a worthwhile day for me. And not having played for a month, and to suddenly find yourself in the situation I was yesterday, it's -- I'm not kind of brimming with confidence right now in that sense, so today was always going to be a challenging day. I felt like in the end, I felt like I grew a little bit from today, which is good.

Q. You spoke about the experience and that there was no need to panic; was that more difficult today, or were you waiting for the boom moment that you got on 8 yesterday?

JUSTIN ROSE: I was waiting for sure, but it seemed a little more elusive today, no doubt. I was joking, the finger was heading towards the panic button a little bit.

I had a little talk with myself on 8 and said you're still leading the Masters, and I just changed my mindset a little bit and started to play match play against the golf course. I scratched a line on my scorecard and told myself I was three down and could I go ahead and beat the golf course from that point on. I had a putt on 18 to win my match 1-up, but unfortunately it just slipped by. But an honorable draw.

Q. After missing the month from playing competitively, what would you have said if someone told you coming in that you would have the 36-hole lead at the Masters?

JUSTIN ROSE: I mean, nothing -- yeah, I would have been slightly surprised, but nothing does surprise me here in the sense of I know that this place inspires me. I love being here on the grounds. It's a golf course I know how to play better than any other. For me to come into any major championship without playing for a month, it would be this one.

Q. Without wishing to labor this point, you talked about wanting to feel free out there, but it seemed like you had to lose a bit of your lead to find that freedom. Is that how it felt to you?

JUSTIN ROSE: No, not really. No. I thought I did a pretty good job, really, on No. 1 and 2. I felt very settled after the second hole, from that point of view, a great two-putt on No. 1, and then up-and-downing it from a tricky spot on No. 2 to be -- that's a pretty solid start, really. That flagstick on No. 1 is always a tricky pin. So to be even through 2, and I felt like I hit a couple nice little shots there, and I felt like I was somewhat up and running.

So whether you're one ahead or four ahead here, the shots don't change that much. The shot values don't change that much. There's only one way to play this golf course to certain pins, and you either manage it or find yourself in a tricky spot. And today I just didn't find myself -- just slightly on the wrong side of a couple of ridges. To be honest, I felt pretty comfortable and relatively calm all day.

Q. You say the shots don't change, but momentum here can be a fickle thing. When you make a nice, late run like that, do you feel it gives you momentum heading into the weekend?

JUSTIN ROSE: For sure. For sure. That round could easily have been 74, and to still be in touch, I'd be tied with the guys that are 5-under and still be in a great position going into the weekend. I think just making a few birdies just makes you feel good out there for sure.

Listen, like I said, sleeping on the lead last night makes it much easier tonight and then much easier tomorrow, and hopefully by Sunday you're starting to get into the week and you're starting to get comfortable with it. That's why I think today ultimately was a fairly good result in the end. But my goal was to play freely with it, and thought I did a pretty decent job with it, and hopefully that becomes even more instinctive tomorrow.

Q. There were stats last night about how poorly first round leaders have done in the last 25 years. Did you see any of that? And if you didn't see any of that, how are you able to block that kind of stuff?

JUSTIN ROSE: By not listening to you guys, that's exactly how I block it out.

Hearing it now -- at the same time, you have to get into position on this golf course. First round lead, fine, I don't know what the stats are, I'm not concerned, but you do have to get up there and give yourself a great shot going into Sunday. We know the winner of this tournament largely comes out of the final pairing on Sunday, so I'd much rather kind of get up to the lead as early as we can to try to hold that position going into Sunday.

Q. Do you have any routines or rituals to clear your head at night when you go home with the lead? There's a lot of pressure.

JUSTIN ROSE: Drink lots of tea. I try not to watch too much of the golf. That's a shame in some ways because I love watching the Masters. If I'm not competing near the top of the leaderboard, I always do enjoy watching it as well.

I think trying to stay focused is important. I'm focusing on my recovery at the moment to do all the good protocols that I need to do to come out and feel strong and healthy and well tomorrow, ice baths and stuff like that. My wife's here and we're pretty low-key in the house, actually. We have a nice little fire pit that we sit out in the evening and just chat and chill. And not too much of the TV, I guess, is kind of the only way to stay away from it.

Q. If you said this yesterday, I'm sorry, but not playing for a month, maybe not having huge expectations on you, have these things played into your advantage this week in any way in your mental state coming into the tournament?

JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, I mean, I still couldn't wait for the gun to go off on Thursday if that makes any sense. I've been hyping myself up for this for two weeks. And I could have played the Match Play, I could have played Valspar, but I chose not to because I wanted to be ready for this golf tournament. I wasn't ready to play from a golf sharpness point of view, but I'd been putting all of my energy into getting ready to play.

In some ways, I didn't know what to expect, but I've been preparing to be right here. From that point of view, that does feel good and doesn't overly surprise me. But it's a little bit of an unknown not having played for a month for sure.

THE MODERATOR: Would you mind going through the birdies like yesterday?

JUSTIN ROSE: 2 was a 3-wood off the tee and 5-wood just short of the green which left me a nice angle but a tricky chip which I managed to hit down to about three feet.

No. 13, hit an aggressive tee shot up and over the corner and hit 7-iron onto the green and was able to two-putt from 35, 40 feet.

No. 14, hit driver, 9-iron into front right-hand part of the green, and very rare do you get an uphill putt on -- to that pin, and I was able to roll in a nice left-to-right 20-footer there.

And then 16, got it up onto the right shelf, the correct level, and holed about another 20-foot putt there right-to-left.

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations.