My time to win Masters – Rose
Ayear after losing a playoff to Sergio Garcia at the Masters, Justin Rose declared himself ready to finally claim the coveted green jacket as he prepared for a final tune-up at the Houston Open.
The Englishman is one of several big guns using this week’s PGA Tour tournament to prepare for Augusta, joining the likes of Jordan Spieth, Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler in the field at the Golf Club of Houston.
Rose embraced his status as one of the favourites for the first major of the year, making no effort to downplay his chances.
“Game-wise I’m where I want to be,” he told reporters in Texas on Wednesday.
“I guess it’s getting comfortable with the feeling of knowing that I’m going in there (to the Masters) as one of the favourites and it’s my time really to do it.
“Last year I enjoyed the (Houston) tournament and it obviously turned into a good run into Augusta for me.
“This is not about next week, but clearly when you’re playing so close to a major that is always in the back of your mind.”
Rose has been one of the hottest
Andy Murray is confident he is making good progress in his battle to return to tennis following surgery on his hip. The three-time grand slam champion has not played competitively since exiting Wimbledon at the quarterfinal stage last July, and he has since lost his British No 1 ranking to Kyle Edmund.
However, Murray underwent surgery earlier this players in the world for the last few months, winning three times late last year, including a World Golf Championships (WGC) event in Shanghai.
The world No 5 has also contended in his two most recent starts on the PGA Tour in Florida, and skipped last week’s WGC Match Play in Austin to play instead in Houston.
“I’ve had a very simple train of thought the last few months,” he said.
“I’m not coming in here trying to find my game or look for anything new.”
While Rose is firing on all cylinders, three-times major winner Spieth is trying to diagnose his faults after a couple of ordinary performances.
He thinks he needs at least one hot round in Houston to provide a boost heading to Augusta.
“I want to shoot a low round, something lower than five under par, where I get out there, get into the flow of the round, where I’m not living and dying on shots,” Spieth said.
“I’ll know if I shot a low round in my mind whether the score is 65 or 68. I need a round that feels like that 65 that I can draw a lot off.”
Murray making progress in comeback from hip surgery
year and is targeting the beginning of the grass-court season in June to make his comeback. Footage emerged on Monday of Murray training at Patrick Mouratoglou’s academy in France, almost three months since undergoing hip surgery. “Andy Murray arrived on Friday night and will stay until at least the first week of April,” a member of the academy told AFP.