Rose resumes his Turkey love affair to put world No1 place firmly in play
Show Justin Rose a golf course in Turkey and he is prone to gobble up the birdies almost as quickly as he racks up the cheques.
Here on the first day of the Turkish Airlines Open, the Englishman re-emphasised his liking for this Antalya tourist area by shooting a 65 to stand one off the pace, set by Ireland’s Paul Dunne.
Rose’s endeavours mean that, in his 14 competitive rounds in Turkey to date, he is a staggering 65 under.
In all, he has collected more than £2.3million in prize money in these parts, although should he successfully defend his title on Sunday then even the fact he will have amassed more than £3.1million – in only four events – will have to give way in the headlines to another Rose achievement. Victory would see him displace Brooks Koepka as the world No1.
Little wonder, therefore, that the 38-year-old was all smiles yesterday after an eagle, four birdies, and 13 pars. “You need a good game plan around here,” Rose said. “That’s where Fooch [caddie Mark Fulcher] and I do a good job. We pick out times to be aggressive, but we respect the course. There are a lot of three-woods and five-woods off the tee and occasionally irons. It’s not a course you can whale away on.
“You know, with world No1 this week it’s nice that there is no other scenario in play. It’s a pretty simple equation, which I think kind of helps. If I could finish third and get to No 1, there’d always be something in the back of your mind, right?
“I can just focus on playing good golf this week and let things take care of themselves. I can’t force it. Defending champion, that means nothing to the course. You’ve got to go out there and build a new body of work. I have the same intention tomorrow.”
Playing alongside Rose, Thorbjorn Olesen, the 2016 champion, also fired a 65 and Tommy Fleetwood a 69.
Padraig Harrington is on six under as well, with Lee Westwood a shot further back after a 66.