Justin Rose has revealed what he was saying to his caddie on the seventh hole during the third round of the PGA Championship, with the Englishman keeping his hopes of a second major title alive.
Rose, of course, only ensured that he would be making the cut at Aronimink on the final hole of his second round on Friday. The 45-year-old needed a birdie on the par five ninth to sneak inside the cut line.
Ultimately, he chipped in for eagle. Despite the moment of magic, Rose would have known that he would have needed to fly out of the blocks to stand any chance of contending.
Justin Rose reacts to his superb third round at the PGA Championship
A 65 has given him an outside chance with one round to play. Rose made four birdies in a row on the front nine to move to within three shots of the lead at the time.
And after his round, he shared his surprise at getting off to such a strong start.
He said: “Yeah, I was actually just joking with my caddie walking down the seventh hole. We were suddenly one-under par for the tournament, and we were five-over par like seven holes ago. So I said, you wouldn’t have thought I’d be walking down number seven under par in the tournament, would you?
“I realise it’s such a bunched leaderboard this week. Even from day one, it was surprisingly bunched, obviously, with three-under leading and even-par being like 35th or whatever it was. It kind of offered the opportunity to make a run today and get in the tournament. Whether you kind of felt like you could win it or not, two good rounds are going to go a long way this weekend even if you made the cut. So I came in with that mindset and motivation.”
Rose assesses his chances of victory at Aronimink after a 65 on Saturday
It is clear that scoring has been much easier on Saturday. The conditions are a lot kinder, with the temperature increasing a considerable amount.
So while Rose has moved himself right up the leaderboard, it is going to be a huge ask for the veteran to really put himself in the mix.
Rose seemed to suggest that he may be just a little too far back heading into Sunday’s final round.
“Yeah, we’ll see how the leaderboard looks at the end of the day, but honestly, I kind of look at the round and go I feel like I wish I would have squeezed two more out of it,” he said.
“I always get greedy, but standing on the 14th tee, I actually didn’t think this to myself at the time, but if I could go back in time and squeeze two more out of it, I’d be in an incredible spot going into tomorrow.”
Of course, Rose knows all about producing a stunning final round to take charge of a major championship.
His performance on Sunday at last year’s Masters will live long in the memory of many. And he once again found himself in the lead on the final day at Augusta National just last month.
He will certainly believe that he can put some pressure on the leaders once he gets out there on Sunday at Aronimink.