Justin Rose believes he still has game to add to his major total after overcoming difficult scoring conditions to make a bogey-free start to the 152nd Open at Royal Troon.
The 43-year-old, who is bidding to become the first English Open winner since Sir Nick Faldo in 1992, recovered from three missed cuts in his last four starts to card a two-under-par 69 on a wet and windy opening morning.
Rose has recorded just two top-10 finishes at The Open since finishing fourth on his amateur debut in 1998, with the former world No. 1 having to come through final qualifying to secure his place in this year’s competition.
The former US Open champion sits one shot behind clubhouse leader Justin Thomas, who posted a first-round 68, with Rose looking to make the most of his opportunity to claim a second major victory.
“It’s a bit of a countdown,” Rose admitted. “It’s obvious, isn’t it? I’m going to be 44 soon and history suggests winning is less likely, but I think the Open gives you that opportunity maybe more than some of the other majors.
Justin Rose turned things around with a bogey-free 69 in the opening round at Royal Troon
“I still have confidence in myself and I think I can still improve tomorrow compared to today. As long as that’s the case, I’ll keep believing, that’s for sure.
“Will I be competing week in and week out at the highest level at 44? Who knows, but I still feel like I’m a good enough golfer to find my bearings and my angles and have weeks where everything falls into place.
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Justin Rose is pitted against five randomly selected golfers: one is a current or former pro, and four are imposters. Can he figure out who the real pro is?
“What I’ve worked hard for the last two or three years is to have the opportunity at the end of my career to have some special, incredible opportunities. That’s what keeps me going.”
On his performance, Rose added: “I’m a little disappointed today, I felt today could be something special. There were opportunities on the front nine and the back nine. A lot of things could have gone differently on another day, so overall I’m pretty happy.”
Thomas ‘heading in right direction’ after good start
Thomas set the tone early, after leading after the first day of the Scottish Open last week, the two-time PGA champion recovered from a three-shot loss in the space of two holes from the 11th by birdie-birdieing.
“I played really solid, I was able to hold my own,” said Thomas, who has missed the cut in five of his last seven majors and finished 14 shots better than his first-round 82 in last year’s contest. “I felt like I had great ball control.”
Justin Thomas is looking for his first career Open top-10
“I hit a lot of fairways, which is a key part of any major, but certainly an Open. I had a little setback early on the back nine, but I stayed patient and kept fighting.
“I couldn’t even tell you what I was thinking (last year) or how it was at that time. I’m just concerned about where I am right now, and I’m very happy with my game and I know things are continuing to go in the right direction. I’ve just got to keep trying to play well.”
England’s Matt Wallace also briefly topped the leaderboard on the opening morning after being four under par after eight holes, eagled the fourth, only to triple-bogey the par-four ninth en route to a first-round 70.
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Matt Wallace eagled the fourth hole at Royal Troon after finding the hole from 85 yards out!
“Obviously the triple bogey on 9 doesn’t help your score, but I handled it really well,” Wallace said. “There’s been a lot of talk this week about having to deal with things you don’t want to deal with and I handled that really well.
“I had a real problem and didn’t play the way I wanted off the tee, so I dealt with it, but to be in that position and then come into the clubhouse hitting it well down the right was really nice.
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“I think I sometimes put a spanner in the works mentally, so I stop myself from letting my game shine because I know it’s good enough and I’ve shown it – I think everyone can see that.
“I think everyone would agree that I’m not playing to my full potential, so I have to find a solution. I feel like I can compete for big tournaments. That’s what I think I can do. I haven’t done that for a long time, so if I can start competing, I’ll be very happy.”
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