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THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPJuly 17, 2007Justin RoseCARNOUSTIE, SCOTLAND BRIAN CREIGHTON: We have Justin Rose with us. Justin, four years since you've been to The Open. I'm sure you're pleased to be back. JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, very much so. Yeah, it's a long time, certainly, and disappointing to have missed a few Opens in a row, which is a tournament I regard as the biggest and the best. Q. I understand you've been practicing with Nick Faldo today. Did you speak to him about the comments he made a couple of days ago about young Brits being in the comfort zone, not being hungry enough to win majors? JUSTIN ROSE: No, actually I didn't. I was too busy beating him three and two (laughter). No, I'm kidding. No, to be honest I didn't. We didn't really get into it too much out there. Q. What are your feelings about what he said? JUSTIN ROSE: Well, I think I've sort of heard a few comments around that same thing, whether it's having to be single minded and ruthless enough to go ahead or I think Nick said that maybe him and Seve wouldn't have sat next to one another and had lunch and really chatted away when they were at the peak of their /POERS. So I believe that you need to -- everybody is different, to start with. I certainly feel I play my best golf when I create a -- when I play down as much as I can, and I create a relaxed frame of mind and enjoy myself to a certain extent. So I think you need to know what works for you, more than anything. I think everybody is different. But certainly you've got to look at what's worked for a six-time Major champion and certainly other Major champions and there's definitely that single-mindedness they have. And I think that is certainly something that -- I don't know whether I could be better at it, but it's certainly something I can look at to try, and maybe, when the time is right, to make your game. Q. Do you feel there are Europeans that are happy to be in the top 10 and become multi-millionaires, as he suggested? JUSTIN ROSE: No, I don't think so. I heard Luke Donald speak at the beginning of this year that he was to not let himself fall into that, and to try to push himself and not just finish top 10, because he's obviously such a consistent performer. That's using Luke as an example. All of our mindset -- Paul at the U.S. Open was saying he would love to be the first Brit to win a Major, and so would I -- first for a long time. I think we're all pushing ourselves and we're all aware of the fact that it's due. No, I don't think there's a complacency at all. Q. You beat him three and two? JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, we were just having fun. Q. Did you play for any money? JUSTIN ROSE: No, no money. Q. Continuing on that theme, surely the camaraderie among European players would be of critical importance at the Ryder Cup when Nick Faldo is the captain? JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, definitely. I think it's a huge asset of the European Tour and the European players that there is kind of a -- some very good friendships out there. It's probably going to be one of those situations that when one of the guys breaks through, you'll probably find quite a few will be. It's going to be what it takes for the first one of us to break through, and I think that's basically what your question is pointing towards, is what is it going to take for us to just get to that next level. And I think we're all trying to find out exactly what that is. Q. You have it collectively in the Ryder Cup, but then individually it falls down a bit? JUSTIN ROSE: Well- Q. The last challenge, the last frontier? JUSTIN ROSE: When you look at the way the Ryder Cup, the guys perform in that. But it's a team event, whereas you can look at it many ways. But Tiger has taken up, let's say, a lot of Majors, 12 of the last whatever it is, there's a lot of opportunities gone. You can't use that as an excuse because British players or world players need to step up and be able to rival him and find what it takes to win the major. Q. Is it too harsh to say it comes down to the battle? JUSTIN ROSE: That's too harsh. Because there's so much pressure in the Ryder Cup. They feel all the emotions that you would feel that are quite similar to a Major. Probably the only thing you can compare the Ryder Cup to is having a chance to win the major, and the way the boys play there's no question of battle. Q. What are some of the key things you do away from the course that help you when you get to the course? When you're playing, when you catch yourself getting angry or frustrated, what do you do to regain your concentration and your cool? JUSTIN ROSE: I think for me getting away from -- getting away from thinking golf is important when you're away from the course. You only have so much energy to devote to golf. I think for me to get away from golf is very, very important and it's an important part of my week here, and my week's preparation for any event is to give yourself that downtime. When you get to the course you can give it a hundred percent. To be honest, I purely do that by I enjoy the people around me, my wife, just movies, it's a good distraction. I like to go out for nice dinners and really enjoy my evenings. I think in the past I used to be so intense even off the course. I could always be trying to create the right thing, drink the right thing, eating at the right times. It began to be too much. Now I like to get away from it a bit, have the odd beer if you fancy one. So from that perspective get away from the golf when you can. On the golf course I think it's all about positive thinking, breathing, just all the very simple things that one can do to stay in the moment. There's no secret to it, but just those good things. Q. A couple of changes have been made to the golf course since 1999. I know you've played a few Dunhill Links Championships. Could you take me through the strategy of the 3rd through 6th holes? JUSTIN ROSE: The third hole was an interesting hole with the wind hard off to the left. They're trying to make you hit it down the left side which brings the creek or the burn into play down the left. With the wind off the left today it was a very interesting hole. It was hard to keep it down the left, and it was bringing those two right-hand bunkers into play. You have to get it close to the bunkers to carry the rough and the moguls in the middle of the fairway. It began to be a tricky hole, what used to be quite a straight forward hole. 6 is a classic -- it's a great links par-5, downwind is straight forward. Downwind the landing area becomes much wider. It's a legitimate birdie chance. Into the wind you've got to play it as a three-shot hole. If you hit one bad shot, it's like a chain reaction hole. If you put it out of position on the tee you're looking at six, or have a bad layup you're looking at six, so it's really a par-5. Q. You've had excellent performances in the Majors this year, how do you view your own chances coming into this week? JUSTIN ROSE: I view them as good, as hopefully I'll be a contender. I certainly take a lot of confidence in what happened at Augusta and the U.S. Open. I felt like I was in the tournament from the word go and in the tournament all week. I felt comfortable being in and around the hunt there all week. I think what I learned those two weeks is only going to make it, if it can ever get easier, it never gets easy, you're always picking up experience and tucking it under your belt. For two good experiences to be so close together, should a third come around, it might be easier. Q. Could you give us an example of what you mean by making it easier, anything specific that you know next time -- JUSTIN ROSE: I guess it's self-belief is what I'm saying. Having played well in the last two Majors, beginning to believe that's where I belong, and just that alone makes it much easier to go out there and let it happen. Q. For American viewers who have rarely seen anything like the Barry Burn, is there any way you can get a ball out of there? JUSTIN ROSE: Well, on 17 and 18 obviously that's the main holes where -- I think the back tee on 18 the burn just cuts in a little bit on the right side, probably about say 260. So into the wind, which on Monday was into the wind, that burn is going to cut in more so than it has in the previous years where you've been driving it down to where the bunkers are. 17, it's an interesting hole because whether it's into the wind or downwind you're placing your drive in a very similar situation, in a similar spot on the fairway. Because the burn cuts across the fairway. So it really -- it limits the way you can play the 17th hole in my mind, which is a good thing. It's a good strategic hole. There's no way to get it out without dropping it. Q. You came to the attention of a lot of people playing The Open as an amateur. What advice would you give to the amateurs coming in this year? JUSTIN ROSE: It's easy to say, but just to enjoy the week. My recollection of the 1998 Open in Birkdale was I managed to have fun. As the week went on it became more and more serious, but I think the reason I was able to play so well is I kept that element of fun going. That's, I think, for the amateurs, should be the ultimate goal. It's a wonderful experience. Everyone roots for the underdog. So there's no pressure on the amateurs, just to realize that, have fun, that's probably your best chance to play well. That's probably my mentality this week, too, to enjoy the week for what it is, it's a great championship. Q. You just said you have fun, enjoying the week, nice dinners, your wife, obviously could you understand somebody who doesn't think like that, they're too uptight if they can't switch off like that? JUSTIN ROSE: Everyone is different and some players, once the week rolls around they just feel like they need to be intense. My wife says to me that tournaments come along and I'm slightly different. I'm not as chatty. But I still feel like I'm trying to get away from golf. But some players need -- it's like recognizing what works for you. Some people maybe can't get their guard down at all during the week. It's a personal thing. Q. Does that strike you as insecure if somebody can't do that? JUSTIN ROSE: No. It's we're all different. I think it's somebody who's intelligent and knows what works for them. Q. How difficult is it to play with Tiger? JUSTIN ROSE: How difficult? I think there have been studies done with guys that play with Tiger and the fact that it obviously is difficult to play with Tiger. But the fact should remain that you're playing a golf course, and the golf course is no more difficult -- the golf course doesn't become more difficult because of somebody that you stand next to. I mean that's the simple fact of it. Reality is, yes, reality could be different. But that's the way I'm going to approach it, is the fact that the golf course is still the same. I'm into the golf course, that's my thinking. Q. (Inaudible.) JUSTIN ROSE: I was excited. To be honest it's going to be a wonderful occasion, playing with Paul Lawrie, as well, a local hero, last Brit to win The Open. Q. Is it easier to play with him at this stage of the tournament, because you're playing with him rather than against him? JUSTIN ROSE: Good question. I haven't really paid a thought to that at all. I don't know the answer to that. Q. Because he's not quite after you at that stage, is he, at the first? JUSTIN ROSE: Well, we're all after each other from day one, yeah. Round one -- you can't win it on Thursday. You can lose -- everyone is grinding from hole one. Q. You mentioned Paul Lawrie and the last guy to win. Do you think it's almost unfair, too, that his victory the way he played here the last time, on that final day, especially, sort of gets overlooked because of what happened to Jean on that last hole? JUSTIN ROSE: I don't know. I think -- I think from my perspective it's not overlooked. I think I recognize having been here that year, and how incredible 67 was the last day, and to come from ten shots back, it's a miracle round. I certainly give him every credit in the world. From my point of view it wasn't necessarily overlooked. That's my view on it. Q. What's your favorite movie to relax to, if you watch movies? JUSTIN ROSE: I'm normally into sort of like TV series, that you can buy boxed sets and stuff like that, Entourage and things like that, 24, those similar -- Prison Break. Q. Bob the Builder? JUSTIN ROSE: That was '98. (Laughter). Q. Do you have a tune in your head when you're playing? JUSTIN ROSE: No. But it's interesting, though -- I don't normally, not one that reoccurs, but my caddie is a nightmare because the last song he hears on the radio driving, all day, I mean -- so invariably that's the song in my head. Q. What did he have today? JUSTIN ROSE: None today. I don't think his car has got radio this week. End of FastScripts |
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