He is, after all, the highest-ranked player in the field and a man coming to the end of what has been the most consistently successful year of his career. So it is no real surprise to see the name of Justin Rose looming large on the leader-board at the halfway stage of this Australian Open. Which is not to say that the 32-year old Englishman was happy with his position after signing for a second round of 73 here at The Lakes. Seven under par and leading the field after 27-holes, Rose made four bogeys on the back nine and fell into a tie for fourth spot, three shots off the pace. Perhaps not surprisingly given a hectic schedule that sees him playing on his third continent in as many weeks, the world number four looked tired. He was having none of that though. It was a round of two halves obviously, he said. I played really well going out then not so well coming home. Which is disappointing. Yesterday the front nine was the trickier of the two, so at the turn I was hopeful I could make more progress. But it didn t happen. As to what actually went wrong, I m not sure. I just kinda lost my groove on the back nine. I played poorly and putted poorly. I felt sharp then all of a sudden I didn t. I chunked two shots on the tenth, my tee-shot and my approach. Then I hooked my tee-shot at the 12th. All of that really slowed any momentum I had. Rose is an experienced competitor, of course, and he knows there is a long way to go. Certainly, he wasn t giving up hope. If someone had said to me at the start of the week, you can be three under par and three of the lead at halfway, I d have taken that, he said. All is not lost, even if I did have the opportunity to get to eight or nine under par. That would have made me hard to beat. But this is a 72-hole event and I m in with a chance. Everyone has a period in almost every event where they struggle. Hopefully I had mine this afternoon. On the positive side, Rose was happy enough with his general play, especially his ability to pick the right shot and, vitally in the blustery conditions, the correct club. I ve been able to keep myself out of trouble, apart from that bad run of four bogeys in six holes today, he continued. If you pick the wrong club it s easy to be 40-feet away from the flag and it s hard to two-putt from there on these greens. But if I continue to make good decisions, I m confident I ll be in with a chance come Sunday evening. Nothing is certain in golf, of course. And Rose is one who knows that only too well. Two weeks ago in Dubai he came to the 72nd tee with a two-shot lead, then made a memorable closing birdie after hitting an amazing 50-foot putt to within inches of the cup. Yet still he lost, courtesy of Rory McIlroy s closing run of five consecutive birdies. I felt the pressure all the way down the stretch, he says with a shrug. And I kept hitting quality shot after quality shot. Ultimately, that is all you can do. Given his play over the last few months and a good night s sleep it would be more than surprising if Rose did not produce more of those shots over the next two days. The leaders, for sure, will be expecting nothing less.
Author: John Huggan / emiratesaustralianopen.com.au