Justin Rose satisfied after streaky 66

PGA Championship

Justin Rose praised his game management after struggling with an errant driver in the opening round of the PGA Championship.

The Englishman would sign for a four under 66 around TPC Harding Park, leaving him just one stroke behind the leaders. What made Rose’s round all the more impressive was that he ranked just 111th in the field for driving accuracy, but still managed to keep the damage to just two bogeys.

“What I’m proud about today is the way I managed my game,” said the Olympic champion.

“The temptation is to try and hit the 5wood, you know, I got this great little 5wood that comes out the rough beautifully, but I caught some poor lies off the tea and took my medicine. I laid it up to 60-70 yards and kept getting the ball up and down for pars early in my round.

I made the most of some good wedge play and took care of the more simple holes but yeah didn’t have a five on my card either. My two bogeys were three-putts on par 3s. But yeah, I need to work on hitting a few more fairways and grow into the week.

“We walk off the golf course nine times out of ten frustrated because we left a few out there. [Today] is one of those few days where you’ve come off and gone ‘wow, I’ve stolen a few today’, so there’s a lot of satisfaction in that.”

Justin Rose PGA Championship

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