Justin Rose signed his dashboard in the second round, then made a few plans for the evening. None of them involved looking at the assortment of high caliber hunters while continuing their advance at the Masters.
These are exciting moments for a 44 -year -old man whose Indian summer has enabled a pleasant spring to Augusta. But when great opportunities strike, the nerves are used to walking.
Consequently, no television and no study of his rivals in their efforts to correspond to the brand of the clubhouse which he set at eight sub-valves after adding a stable 71 to his first 65.
If he went to a screen, which is not an easy thing here, he would have noticed a few familiar faces amassing behind him. The closest was Bryson Dechambeau, one back after a 68, but he was the next man in six under who diverted attention – Rory McILroy.
Do you remember him? Buried by his own scattering late Thursday, he rose quite brilliantly on Friday morning. His 66 round was superb and lit by an astonishing shot on the nine rear that only increased the mystery of the way he spent 11 years without major.
Of course, you just have to rewind its collapse of the first round in the last four holes to contextualize this question.
Justin Rose holds the advance of the clubhouse eight under peer after cycles of 65 and 71
The 44 -year -old Englishman has chosen to relax rather than watching his challengers on television
Rory McILroy dazzled with a 66, climbing six sous after a brilliant rear new
But the ceiling of his game was shown here by fairway wedges at the range of birdies with 10th and 11th diabolical holes before an eagle on the 13th, which he shaped with a ridiculous four -iron iron of pine straw. This approach traveled 214 yards, narrowly clearing the Greenside stream, then rested only nine feet from the cup. He is back in the tournament he wants most.
The same goes for the Canadian Corey Conners, out of six under the peer, and Shane Lowry, who shares five under the beginner of the Master McCarty. Playing among the last starters, who faced the most winted conditions, the title champion Scottie Scheffler was on six under four holes to play, with Tyrrell Hatton on the same number.
Among the biggest names to miss the Cup were Brooks Koepka, who fell into the wrong side with an eight in the last, with Sergio Garcia, Robert Macintyre, Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson. Playing his last masters, the former champion twice Bernhard Langer missed a 10 feet on the 18th to do the weekend.
While these positions were finalized, Rose pulled to lift the feet. He said, “I won’t look. I feel that I have already done it and I think it is as emotionally exhausting as to practice all afternoon, to be honest with you.
For Rose, the possibilities here are obvious, but also the previous historical against him. On four previous occasions, he had held the 18 -hole advance at the Masters and tended to flop in the next, so even if a 71 is not an excellent feat, it was also enough.
Having finished in the top six of the American PGA and open championship in 2024, Rose feels ready to grasp a major chance.
He said: “ On these two occasions, I am more and more comfortable while I was increasingly showing up in the ranking, which was really good for me because there had not been a ton of opportunities for the previous two years.
“Given how much you dream of winning them, I felt remarkably comfortable in these situations.”
Bryson Dechambeau seated a single blow at seven years after a 68 Friday
For Rose, the possibilities here are obvious, but also the previous historical against him
It was a little before 9 am when Rose walked until first, accompanied by the question if he could make him stick this time. A 14 -foot putt for Birdie on the second by five offered a positive perspective, taking him to eight sous, but it was not the external blitz of 31 that he carded Thursday.
No, it was more attritional, less pretty. Perhaps it was better shown on the fourth, a long par-three, where Rose caught her fat of five woods and landed far from the green.
He got up and down brilliantly, so no trouble doing, but in the next, a monster of 495 yards by one per four with a bad scan on the left, he played for a draw and ended up shooting his journey in a Fairway bunker. Bogey.
Rose has recovered the eighth shot, once again nailing a delicate terrain of 32 meters to five feet, and reached nine years after a delicious six-feet corner in the iconic per-three 12th.
At this point, a threat had come and went from Ludvig Aberg, who became as low as five before dropping a couple, while Dechambeau was also in charge. At the turn, he had improved four shots at seven sous, including a bunker cut in the fourth.
All of this meant Rose was under pressure. A bogey at 14 was corrected with a birdie two to 16 years old, but after restoring the cushion two strokes on Dechambeau, he threw a corner in a bunker with the Greenside on the penultimate hole during the pursuit of a nestled spindle. Returning to eight under the peer, he was in danger of a closing bogy but sank a six feet to sign a 71.
With the rose score, the eyes turned to the weather – the wind increased, but not the forecasts of 25 MPH which would have wreaked havoc for subsequent beginners, notably Scheffler.
From four sous after being without Bogey on Thursday, this loop was less characteristic with three shots in its first 14 holes. It could have been worse, but after entering the water at the 15th par-fi, he was able to fight by the situation, having already benefited from a fortuitous rebound on a tree in his Bogey in the 11th.
