Q. 5-under par 67, no bogeys, three birdies in the last four holes. What pleased you most about your play today?
JUSTIN ROSE: I think just surviving the front nine to be honest with you. I actually didn't play very well early in my round at all and just was able to wedge it close at No. 3 after being in the bunker off the tee. A few missed greens on the front, but yeah, just got the ball up-and-down. Kept the momentum going.
Yeah, felt a little bit tricky coming out. I don't know if it was just the morning. Felt quite wet under foot. But yeah, so took me a while to find my rhythm today but began to play much better on the back and had some good chances actually, coming in. Hit some good iron shots.
Obviously, yeah, took advantage of 17 which is a good hole to get a good tee shot out there. And then, yeah, I think if I just look back at it, yeah, delighted at the start and maybe left a few out there in terms of birdies No. 4, No. 12, No. 18, which made it a great round. I think I got all that I deserved out of that.
Q. Your 20th appearance in this championship. What's the most valuable thing you've learned about these courses that you can draw on this week?
JUSTIN ROSE: Typically be patient. Obviously try to take advantage of the par 5s if you can. Easier said than done but that's normally the way to a good score around here in windy conditions. It actually was fairly windy out there for us. I felt like this course can show its teeth, but clearly the scoreboard was telling you otherwise. The guys were going low and that's the nature of the golf course at the moment, as well. The greens are just a little bit on the slow side, too, so the guys can be quite a aggressive.
I think it also helps you if you short-side yourself, the greens being a little soft and not too quick, normal spots where it might be very tough to get the ball up-and-down, may be a bit more playable than it had been in the past, and I think that's why there's a lot of low scores out there.
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