PRICKLY ROSE
Justin snaps as photographer puts him off stroke
We might tend to think of Justin Rose as the anti- Colin montgomerie, all english calm and reserve.
Yet he showed yesterday that he is also in touch with his inner monty, when he got involved in a spat with photographers during a sometimes difficult opening round at the Open.
On a day when the three Lions challenge generally failed to roar, england’s most consistent player of recent years briefly lost it after getting distracted by the muffled rat-a-tat of a camera shutter on the sixth green. it caused him to miss a short putt en route to a one-over-par 72 which gained added respectability when he managed a birdie on the 18th.
Shedding his usual restraint, Rose issued a long- distance rebuke to the banks of cameras on the sixth and made his feelings known at closer quarters as he walked up the seventh fairway after skewing his tee shot into the rough.
‘Whoever that was, that was out of order,’ said Rose before muttering a distinctly Anglo-Saxon oath under his breath. ‘ Well done, thanks a lot,’ reinforced his caddie mark Fulcher as they walked past the gathered snappers.
When Rose finished off his ensuing bogey on the seventh green Fulcher showed decent hand-eye co-ordination when forced to catch the putter that was abruptly flung his way by his boss.
the player was more phlegmatic afterwards, saying: ‘it’s one of those things that does happen out here. i let the photographer know that i was not happy about what happened and that was it.
‘it’s not something that’s totally out of the realm of what happens. there’s little distractions out there. You do face that on a lot of shots, it was just a bit more untimely than usual. We’re pretty used to it, to be honest.’
Rose actually had a right to be cross, his promising start having been disrupted. it sounded as if the photographer had pulled the trigger early and held it there like a machine- gun through the player’s putting stroke.
Worse was to come on the parfive 14th, the easiest scoring hole of the back nine, when Rose found the bunker and took two attempts to get out of it. eventually he scooped the ball well beyond the hole and ended up collecting a double bogey.
the uncharacteristic show of anger may have had its roots in the 37-year- old Olympic champion having a lot riding on this week.
Not only would winning this title propel him to world No 1 for the first time, he is also seeking to rectify a modest record at this event.
When he made his startling Open debut in 1998 at Birkdale to finish fourth, he could never have thought that would remain his best showing 20 years on — especially considering what else he has achieved in the game.
he denied afterwards that his relatively meagre two top- 10 Open finishes were connected to him feeling extra pressure at this time of year. ‘i’m pretty used to it now,’ said Rose, who reached for his driver on the last two holes in an apparent change of strategy. ‘i enjoy the Open and i enjoy coming out and enjoy renting a house and enjoy having my family around me. ‘it’s a major. majors are stressful. You do put some emphasis on them, and you prepare hard for them. ‘i think that getting up for
them is positive, not negative. i know how to handle pressure, and i know how to handle myself.
‘So i don’t really see that as a down side. i played better golf than my record suggests.
‘i feel comfortable with this style of golf. i haven’t quite converted it into good results, but i’ve played good golf in the Open the last 10 or 15 years.’
Another big english hope, course record-holder tommy Fleetwood, finished on the same score as Rose after bogeying two of the last three.
‘i didn’t play very good, i didn’t hit it very well,’ said Fleetwood, before heading for an early evening hit on the range. ‘it’s not disastrous. i feel like i’m a good start away tomorrow from being back in it.’