BETFRED BRITISH MASTERS HOSTED BY SIR NICK FALDO

June 30, 2023

Justin Rose

The Belfry Hotel & Resort

Quick Quotes

Q. Difficult day two conditions. What's your assessment?

JUSTIN ROSE: I just had my head down there trying to think about it. Obviously it felt like a very, very tough day. I got off to kind of a weird start. Didn't feel like I was hitting poor shots and just wasn't, you know, I guess three-putting No. 1; hole was a little bit smaller today for some reason.

I think the afternoon play, the greens are not as perfect as they are in the mornings and definitely breezier. Yeah, it weren't easy. I mean, this golf course holds up, year-on-year, always has a pretty stout winning score and you can see why. It was blustering.

Actually, all in all, I made some mistakes, clearly. I was 4-over par at one point in my round so delighted to bring it back to minus six which is still tied for the lead. A good result out of the day I think, but also, generally feel pretty decent with how I played today.

So just three 3-putts and maybe one or two little errors that crept in, but yeah, not too bad considering what was a tough afternoon.

Q. You mentioned being 4-over par through ten holes. How important was experience and patience and the fact that you've been in good form?

JUSTIN ROSE: I did readjust and tried to say to myself: If I can make three birdies coming in on the last sevens holes because I knew there were a couple par 5s and just try to one birdie, and that's how it played out. I actually did make four birdies; and three-putt from nowhere on 14 just to keep it interesting and keep me guessing, I suppose. It was a good, gutsy finish I suppose, and dinner will taste good because of that.

Q. Always special playing in front of your home fans. How excited to have a chance to win this iconic championship in front of your home fans this weekend?

JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, home fans are great when it's going well, and you can sense their frustration when it's not going well because they want you to do well. Obviously they are sort of feeling the frustration of the missed putts as much as you are.

Sometimes the atmosphere can definitely get heavy, you're trying to win a tournament. It's about being on the front foot, and that's the goal for the weekend, get back into birdie mode and get those good feelings going.

Q. Your thoughts after that round there. That was a battle, wasn't it?

JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, actually pretty happy walking off the golf course. If you had interviewed me through ten holes, I probably wouldn't have done the interview.

So it was definitely a good finish, good strong finish to keep me in it. The golf course does hold up, year-on-year, the winning score is never that many under par around here and you can see why and today was a tough day. Bit breezier, a little cooler, annoying sort of drizzle coming and going.

I think the greens got a little bit slower because of that moisture on them and there was just a few challenges.

When you see the ball slipping by a couple times, the hole looks a little bit smaller which is what it did to me.

When I analyse the round, I didn't feel like I hit many poor shots. Didn't hit many great shots but didn't hit any poor shots really, but it was just minimal stuff really that cost me a few bogeys early on.

Q. How much does experience come down to maxing a day like this, because that's effectively what you've done, isn't it?

JUSTIN ROSE: I think so. If I had gone and shot 76 today, I'd have walked off and been quite bewildered because I did not play that badly but the score had slipped away from me after ten holes and that is what it is. The scorecard doesn't lie at the end of the day. You kind of do know, you count on those par 5s on the back nine a little bit, 15 and 17, to try to give you some opportunities. But they are certainly no gimmie birdies, either.

So, I'm sticking with it and readjusted my goals. Actually set myself a goal for the last seven holes to be 3-under par and that's what it turned out to be. Didn't appreciate that I would still be leading the golf tournament but yeah, through 36 holes I'm in a great spot.

Q. Lovely position, late tee time Saturday, potentially a really, really big weekend ahead?

JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, I hope so. Actually, you know, I don't take a dent in confidence from today. I actually felt like I actually played pretty well the last -- for most of the day to be honest with you, and I feel like I can keep the momentum up into tomorrow.