RBC CANADIAN OPEN

June 10, 2023

Justin Rose

Oakdale Golf & Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Seemed like a little bit of a pedestrian start and then all of a sudden you found fourth gear on the back side. How was the day?

JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, that was fun. It was exactly how the day was. It was a bit of a struggle to start with. I was missing some shots, missing a couple fairways. And when I did miss a fairway it's the kind of rough this week where you're sort of walking, praying for a bit of a break or a good lie, something where you can advance it up to the green. I wasn't getting those breaks really early in my round. I was being penalized for every bad shot I hit. Which is, obviously, that's what you deserve. Things got going for me around 8. That was a nice birdie to balance the books, get back to even par for the round. And you kind of know making the turn that there are a few birdie opportunities out there. The energy on the golf course also changed. Obviously leading into 14 with the crowd was unbelievable, kind of coincided with me being able to make some birdies. So that was a lot of fun on the back nine.

Q. What is 14 like to play in front of that crowd like that?

JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, obviously you walk on there you can feel the energy. You feel your heart rate just go up a beat or two. You want to take a deep breath. But you want to enjoy it. I think the crowd are into it. They're super respectful, the fans here. They're having a great time and which is fun to be a part of. And kind of they're playful, but without going over the edge.

Q. It's pretty jammed up at the top of the leaderboard. Does that change any kind of approach that you may have for Sunday?

JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, I think it's not even worth thinking about, necessarily, your position. It's about, what are you going to do to go and have a great Sunday. Because a great Sunday is -- one of the 10 guys that's in touch is going to have a great Sunday. So it's not really about coming out and playing strategically or -- sometimes on tough golf courses you can put yourself into a position where pars are good. And I think pars are going to be good to start the round. But then you're going to have to find your flow like I did today and make some putts and make some birdies.