Rose skips practice rounds, walks course instead

ST. LOUIS — Justin Rose skipped playing practice rounds for the PGA Championship, preferring instead to rest a sore back that forced him to withdraw from last week’s WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

He walked each nine at Bellerive Country Club, though, and he thinks that’s good enough.

“The great thing is I haven’t hit a bad shot in two days. So I’m coming in feeling pretty good about that,” the world’s thirdranked player said jokingly. “I just feel like walking it has been quite an interesting experience. ... I feel like I’ve actually got a clear vision of the golf course.”

Rose explained that by walking the course, and only doing a bit of chipping and putting, he was able to better focus on the setup. He could examine potential pin placements and where to avoid trouble off the tee, rather than letting the technical parts of his swing cloud his thoughts.

“I have the time to look around a little more closely,” he said. “I’m not dictated by where I’ve hit my ball, and then you kind of get concerned with that and those visuals.”

Rose acknowledged it’s a different way to approach a major championship, but the winner of the 2013 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills has been in enough of those that he knows what to expect. He lost in a playoff to Sergio Garcia at the Masters last year, and twice he has been top 5 at the PGA.

Bank error

Imagine Tommy Fleetwood’s surprise upon checking his bank statement.

Not England’s Tommy Fleetwood, but rather Thomas Fleetwood, a club pro at Streamsong Resort in Florida. The Florida Fleetwood received a $154,000 payment that, it turns out, was the 12th-place money from the British Open that should have gone to the other Fleetwood.

Thomas Fleetwood has competed in the European Senior Tour’s qualifying school the past five years, and the European Tour, which executed the payment, had his bank information on file.

The Fleetwood playing at Bellerive this week told Britain’s Press Association he didn’t know if he’d been paid “because I don’t really look.” But a friend of Florida’s Fleetwood, Greg Thorner, posted a screenshot of his friend’s bank account that showed the European Tour had paid the wrong man.

“’I didn’t believe him at first,” Thorner told the Press Association, “but then I watched him log into his account and I was like, ‘Holy crap.’”