Rose happy to shoulder expectation as a leading contender

It is not usually this stress-free for Justin Rose, who is strolling into serious contention at Royal Portrush. At Carnoustie 12 months ago, he made the cut only thanks to an 18foot putt at the last. He then went out the next day and shot a 64, followed it up with a 69 and finished tied for second.

This time around, his path to the weekend has been serene and, after his second-round 67 left him at six under, laid-back Rose said he welcomed the fresh sense of expectation on his shoulders.

“I’m probably one of the best players in the world and there should be expectation when you’re in contention to be able to continue to play well in that situation,” said Rose, who is among the leading pack of Englishmen, a shot behind Lee Westwood and Tommy Fleetwood. He said he did not think there was too much expectation. “I should go out and be who I am and be comfortable with it tomorrow.”

Having exploded on to the scene as a teenager, Rose’s Open record in recent years has been patchy. The 2013 US Open victory remains his solitary major, but confidence has been restored by third place at the US Open last month.

“I don’t think there’s any more expectation from outside than I have for myself,” he said. “I think when you have to deal with everyone else’s expectation and it’s not in line with how you feel, that’s difficult. But I’m comfortable with how much I expect of myself so that makes it easier on Saturday and the next day.”

Rose credited his relaxed disposition with taking a month off in February. “The whole idea behind that was to be fresh enough for the majors and the big run of golf we’re all in,” he said. “It didn’t really pan

‘I am comfortable with how much I expect of myself so that makes it easier this weekend’

out the first couple of majors but hopefully I’m benefiting from it now. Whether it leads to the performance we want, we’ll wait and see. But scheduling-wise, I’ve tried to create that.”

Rose said he was proud of the early progress made by his fellow Englishmen. “I was very aware Tommy [Fleetwood] posted a good round and saw a clip of him birdieing 18 while I was out there. And Westie had a strong finish and crept up on the leaderboard.”

It was not such a day of fresh optimism for England’s Tyrrell Hatton, who discovered why the 16th hole at Royal Portrush is called “Calamity”. Hatton played the first 12 holes of his second round in three under par before dropping a