8 under after 11, Rose had 59 in his sights
C'mon Justin Rose, admit it.
After tying a course record with a 29 on the front nine Thursday morning at the BMW Championship and then going on to birdie your next two holes, you had to be thinking about reaching golf's Holy Grail -- a round of 59 -- right? Right?
"I think it briefly came across my mind on the 11th hole," the affable Englishman said with a smile.
He wasn't the only one thinking that way. As word spread about Rose's performance on the front nine at Cog Hill, what was once a minuscule gallery swelled to about 50 -- considerable on a day where course marshals often outnumbered spectators.
"When you do play well and you do stay in the moment and you're playing shot for shot, you're not getting ahead of yourself," Rose said. "I was doing all those things. That's one of the reasons why I was able to play well."
But the increased gallery didn't get to see what they came for, as Rose stumbled down the stretch with bogeys on 15 and 18 to finish with a round of 65, good for a tie for second -- a stroke behind leader Jonathan Byrd.
"It's obviously always disappointing when you're 8-under par through 11 holes and you finish at 6 under," Rose said. "But at the same time, I think you've got to realize it's certainly not an easy golf course."
Rose sits 23rd in the FedEx points standings, and a solid finish at Cog Hill and next week at the Tour Championships would be just the kicker to cap off a season where he had the second-best scoring average in the four majors.
"I prepared hard for the majors and it was nice to get that reward, really," he said. "It's nice to know that when I do put my mind to something and that I do work ... this year was nice that I was actually able to do that."
After his body clock was thrown off with a Friday start and a Monday finish last week at the Deutsche Bank Championship, Rose has turned back the clock in preparation for the final two playoff events.
"This week I've gone back to the routine that works well for me and also rested up a little bit more," he said. "That's important because this is more of a marathon than a sprint."