Rose making Philly area a home away from home
NEWTOWN SQUARE » Following his six-under-par 64 Saturday afternoon, BMW Championship third-round leader Justin Rose was asked about his affinity for Philadelphia-area courses.
Rose won the AT&T National at Aronimink in 2010, and three years later and eight miles away, captured the U.S. Open at fabled Merion.
“I like traditional golf courses and this style of course reminds me of how I grew up playing heathland and parkland golf, a mixture of the two,” said Rose. “And this area has been good to me with Merion down the road, and the golf fans who came out today, they were very aware of how I have played here in the area.”
The 38-year-old Rose laughed and added, “But my secret weapon here is my caddie Fooch [Mark Fulcher].”
Fulcher not only carried the bag for Rose in the 2010 AT&T Championship and the 2013 U.S. Open, but he also was part of the winning team three times while caddying for Laura Davies at the McDonald’s Championship, played at DuPont Country Club in Wilmington, Del.
When Rose won the AT&T National at Aronimink eight years ago, he found that the best course of action was to treat it like a U.S. Open course, and focus on hitting fairways and greens. He won with a total of 270, 10 under par.
Moments after his 2010 at Aronimink, Rose said, “At the beginning of the week I joked that this was going to be my U.S. Open because of the way the course was. That’s how I played it, trying to hit the fairways and hit the greens and two-putt.”
Eight years later, Rose found that Aronimink called for a more aggressive strategy.
“In 2010, it was definitely a tougher test than what we’re facing with the conditions,” said Rose following his Saturday round. “Yeah, it’s the same venue but maybe a different type of approach this time.”
Rose was red-hot on the front nine Saturday, carding six birdies (on Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 9) for a 29. His round of 64, following rounds of 66 and 63, gave him a three-round total of 193, 17 under par.
“On the front nine, I managed to take advantage of all the holes where I had wedges in my hand [for the approach to the green],” said Rose. “On the back nine, I just felt like the edge of tomorrow’s [rainy] weather was coming in, and the wind picked up. I thought the conditions got tougher. The last couple of holes, it was just about getting into the clubhouse.
“I actually did have some birdie opportunities the last four holes, on 15 I had a nice chance, on 16 I had a nice chance and on 18 I had a nice chance. I don’t know if the greens slowed up a little bit, but I hit weaker putts, lacking a bit of speed.”
Rose finished Saturday one stroke ahead of his third-round playing partner, Xander Schauffele, and Rory McIlroy.
With Sunday’s predicted inclement weather looming, Rose was asked if he approached the third round as if it were the final round, that the tournament could be shortened to 54 holes.
“I tried not to, but it’s definitely in the back of your mind,” Rose replied. “You could start to feel the weather coming in and getting darker. It kind of had the feel that there’s some big weather approaching. I was trying to make the putt on 18 to make sure I was ahead of the field. Xander hit a good putt [for par], but it spun out.”