WGC NEC INVITATIONAL

August 22, 2002

Justin Rose

Q. Well, you started last week 3-under, this time 4-under; so things are going in the right direction?

JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, first rounds have obviously been very good, seeing I'm on the leaderboard straightaway. Sort of gets you into the tournament. Gets that adrenaline flowing.

Q. What was the key? Obviously you played well on the back nine.

JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, in practice both days, I've shot low scores on the back nine, and I've produced more birdies on the back nine in practice.

The front nine, I was happy to turn at par, and I was getting a little bit frustrated because I made a bad 3-putt at 6 from ten feet for bogey. Basically, I just said, look, this is the tougher nine, be patient, go into the back nine and see what happens.

I got a lucky break on the tenth tee. It tweaked left, sort of snapped up into the tree and spun out in the fairway and hit it close and made the putt for birdie, so that got my round going again.

Q. What would the next objective be?

JUSTIN ROSE: Just to press on hard and fast, really. That's all you can do. I think Tiger is setting a hot pace again as of day one, and he's got, what, seven holes to go, and there's a few more birdie opportunities out there for him. I think it's going to be a low-scoring week, to be honest, if we get the great weather that's predicted.

Q. What did you hit on 13 and 16?

JUSTIN ROSE: 13, I hit 2-iron, 8-iron to two feet.

16, I hit 2-iron, 9-iron to eight feet.

Q. What did you play at the last?

JUSTIN ROSE: Second shot, 3-wood, came up just short. Yeah, it's two big hits for me to get up there, so I did it with two good woods and I was happy with that.

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