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This has the makings of a huge season for Justin Rose. Victory at the US PGA Championship would add to the existing sense he is a golfer on a mission to make up for lost time.
A decade has passed since Rose took delivery of his solitary major title thus far, the US Open. The more pertinent timescale is the four years that passed between victories at the Farmers Insurance Open and the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in early February. Rose, who had been the world No 1 in 2018, was not even deemed worthy of a captain’s pick for Europe’s 2021 Ryder Cup team.
It feels like no coincidence that the biennial clash is coming into view once more, with Rose determined to prove tales of his demise have been hugely exaggerated. Luke Donald would surely love to call on Rose’s experience as Europe attempt to wrestle the Ryder Cup back from the grasp of the United States.
A second round of 70 at Oak Hill – Rose had earlier completed his delayed round one in 69 shots – leaves the Englishman well positioned at one under par. Rose has plenty of previous for prevailing when the challenge is stern, as is definitely the case in Rochester.
Matching 68s from Scottie Scheffler and Corey Conners meant they led the tournament at five under until Viktor Hovland carded a 67 to join them. Bryson DeChambeau continues to lurk with intent, at minus three. So too does Brooks Koepka at two-under. Rory McIlroy crashed home a birdie putt on the 18th for a 69, which leaves him within five of the lead. Game on.
“I thought four under par would be the winning score before the tournament started,” said Rose. “There was going to be a couple of days that were pretty windy. It’s very hard to hit the ball in the fairway.
“Historically I’ve won typically on harder golf courses so I think it fits my profile from that point of view. It feels a little bit of a hybrid kind of US PGA-US Open this week. I am looking forward to the test.”
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This kind of attitude is what may separate Rose from others with aspirations of glory in the second major of 2023. Rose, who started on the 10th, birdied three of his first seven holes. Dropped shots at the 18th, 6th and 7th were a frustration at the time but pretty much in keeping with the dynamic of this major. The afternoon starters, who took to Oak Hill long after Rose had departed, had to withstand rain showers alongside whipping winds.
At Pebble Beach, Rose won by three. “Just proving that you can win again, I felt like that was the biggest thing for me,” the 42-year-old said. “Not necessarily just winning but how I won. I felt very, very comfortable once I got into that winning position and it was kind of clear that it was going to be right now or never.
“Those conditions versus these conditions, I think they’re completely different. This is a whole other test. It’s just that I’ve done it before and the fact of knowing I can do it again is important.”
As Rose stood firm, the challenge of Dustin Johnson wilted slightly but not fatally. Johnson’s 74 was seven strokes worse than his opening round. Johnson’s plus one aggregate means he remains in touch. Adam Scott, meanwhile, was rumbling along perfectly nicely at level par through 14 holes before throwing four shots back to the course. The Australian is two over.
Arguably the performance of the tournament thus far has come from Michael Block, a club professional from California. The 46-year-old, who is ranked outside the world’s top 3,000, has delivered back-to-back rounds of 70. “I feel like I’ve got the game this week to compete, to tell you the truth,” said Block. “I’ve made the cut, which was obviously a huge goal. I feel like I could shoot even par out here every day. I feel like at the end of the four days that that might be a pretty good result.”
Those who failed to survive for the closing 36 holes included Francesco Molinari, Séamus Power, Danny Willett, Robert MacIntyre and Thorbjørn Olesen.
