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ABU DHABI HSBC GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPJanuary 17, 2013Justin RoseABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES PAUL SYMES: Well, Justin, thanks for joining us, great round today, you haven't played the course before but it's obviously very much to your liking. JUSTIN ROSE: I haven't played the course well before, I know that after yesterday. That was definitely a great start, shooting 5‑under, I knew it was going to be a tough afternoon, and certainly the wind picked up even more on the back nine. And I guess it was a good scoring day for me and obviously I could see that no one else in the afternoon had made any sort of run, so I felt very good about that score. PAUL SYMES: And your short game seemed to be in very good working order in particular. JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, that's probably the one sort of area that I would say separated me today. I holed a very long putt on the 5th green, probably holed must have been 50, 60 feet, so clearly a bonus there. And the bunker shot on 9 was not your standard bunker shot either, it was a very, very tough shot, probably one that you only up‑and‑down 50 per cent of the time. So to make it was an extra bonus for sure. Q. Your short game, the chip in the bunker and things like that, the round could very easily have not gone as well. There was a few scrambles and a few holes where you went up‑and‑down and were in bad positions. What do you take from those sort of shots into tomorrow to make sure you're not in that sort of position again? JUSTIN ROSE: I think if I'm completely honest, I didn't have it completely under control today with the long game. Didn't feel perfect. But I think it was the nature of the day: Very difficult to hit every shot perfectly out there. I think it was the kind of day that you have to accept there were going to be some mistakes. I don't think you're going to get many clean rounds of golf out there. I think this that's the most important thing to realise; it's the nature of the golf course this week.  It's set up very, very difficult, difficultly, the fairways are narrow. Clearly with a lot of crosswinds, the fairways are hard to hit and the rough is punishing. Like I say just try and keep myself up‑and‑downing it. But accept that there are going to be some mistakes this week. Q. You said before in the preview that you were glad to be under the radar. Did that apply, as well, to being in the other half of the draw to Rory and to Tiger, and did you take any note of what they had scored? JUSTIN ROSE: I saw that they obviously had their first round covered. I was watching a little bit of golf this morning on the TV and obviously you can't help but notice the scores. But it looked like there were‑‑ obviously Martin playing with them, looked like they were all either 1‑under, even, 1‑over, so I felt like it was clearly hard work out there to a certain extent, as well. Q. And being under the radar, is it a chance for you to reach halfway sort of without having had too much of the spotlight on you? JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, I mean, I guess it's a good thing, I was very comfortable with my draw. I love playing with rocky, he's a great lad, and Ernie is as easy as there is to play with, too, easygoing. From a draw perspective, very happy with where I was, and there was always going to be a lot of, you know, extra attention with whoever played with Rory or Tiger or certainly both of them this week. Q. On the same note, yesterday you talked about closing the gap on the top two. It's one round, but to come out with 5‑under when they struggled so much, do you take something away from that? JUSTIN ROSE: No. I'd be reticent to say I've looked at what they have done and what they have scored and take it and put any value to it really. It's the first round of the year. There's a lot of factors involved, certainly a lot of factors for Rory involved this week. That's not his normal preparation with what he's had to obviously encounter the last couple of weeks, I'm sure. What did Tiger shoot, 1‑under? Level? That's well within the golf tournament. So for me there's really no surprises there, and from my point of view, just very, very happy with a good start. Q. Everybody who has come in has commented on what sort of hard work it is out there and a lot of people are grinding and whatever. Do you feel yourself at an advantage or a disadvantage when conditions are like that when it requires hard work? JUSTIN ROSE: I've always told myself that that's the type of golf I like to play. There's always an element where it gets to the point where it's too much of a grind and it's a bit of a leveller for the field. It's difficult to actually separate yourself and play great golf. I still felt it was playable out there, execute it and make some good shots and you still could make some birdies. I tend to like playing tournaments that the winning score is between 8‑ and 12‑under. Those are the types of tests that I feel like suit me well. Q. To effectively end the season last year with 62 just down the road in Dubai, and to kick off here with a 67, is that for you the perfect start? Because to end the season and start another one, you're never quite sure where you're going to go after that. JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, it is the perfect start; to get straight up on the leaderboard and test everything I've been working on the first week of the year, absolutely. I still see it today as the start of a very long week and I see it as the start of an even longer year obviously. So I'm not really throwing a lot of weight on this round of golf, either. It's just a good start. Obviously come out tomorrow morning and just try and keep the momentum going. With regards to sort of putting, short game, just trying to keep the process going I guess. Just keep working on what's been paying off over the off‑season. Keep refining things, and you only really know what's working‑‑ your game always feels good on the range or on the putting green. But you only really know if you're going down the right track once you're under pressure and that gives me a great opportunity for the rest of this week. Q. You started by making a reference to how you played in the Pro‑Am yesterday; how did you play? JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, yesterday, I think we played the course I think every inch of it's 7,600 yards yesterday in the Pro‑Am. We were off the tips on every hole and it was blowing 35 and I didn't have a birdie, so it was a lot of fun. (Laughter). Yeah, I guess leave it at that. PAUL SYMES:  Certainly had a better day today, thanks a lot. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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