GOLF has a nasty habit of slapping you in the face and Justin Rose received a stinging blow just three holes into the Volvo PGA Championship at Wentworth yesterday.
England's new number one from Hampshire was on a high after his brilliant third-place finish in the Deutche Bank SAP European Tournament Players Championship on Monday.
But he came crashing back to earth after suffering a bizarre triple bogey which will give him nightmares for days to come. The man currently ranked third in the European Tour's putting stats astonishingly took four to get down on the West Course's notorious shelving third green.
The trouble started when Rose got hold of his three-iron approach too well and looked on in anguish as his ball shot through the green and up on to a bank. It left him an awkward chip which he skimmed 25 feet past the pin and on to the lower level.
He did well to get his second putt three feet past the pin but that's when the real trouble started. Rose explained: "It left me a downhill putt and the ball seemed to jump right and ended up further away from the hole than when it started."
His third putt rolled agonisngly round the lip and stayed out and he walked to the fourth tee with a seven. Clearly rattled, he struggled for a par five at the next then after pulling his tee shot into a bunker on the short fifth and collecting another bogey, Rose was looking down the barrel of a loaded gun.
Watched by his parents, he had to summon up all his courage to bring things under control.
Without lighting any fires, he didn't suffer another bogey, picked up two birdies on the back nine and finished with a 74 - two over par.
"I would have settled for that walking off the fifth green," said Rose. "Four putting the third and dropping another shot at the fifth shook me up but I had to grit my teeth and make sure I didn't give any more shots away.
To be honest it was one of the most uninspiring rounds of golf I've played for a long time. I hardly gave myself any birdie chances and, when I did get within range, my putting wasn't up to much."
He made birdies at par fives, running up just short of the green at the 12th, a good effort considering the wind was against the players.
Rose rolled a long putt to within six feet and converted it.
A good drive down the 571-yard 17th gave him the chance to go for another birdie but he pulled his second shot well wide of the green and had to settle for a five.
He got his first bit of luck at the last where after another good drive, he clattered his second shot into the hospitality units lining the final green. The ball bounced down to where he was able to chip to within four feet and he gratefuly grabbed welcome four.
But, at two over for the championship, Rose says he will have to shoot at least two under this morning to make the cut.
It was a desperately disappointing day for the 21-year-old from Hook whose efforts in Germany earlier in the week lifted him into the top 60 in the world rankings, above the best-placed Englishmen Nich Faldo and Lee Westwood.
He arrived at Wentworth looking for a top-five finish to earn him a place in next month's US Open.
That will be a tall order now.
Although the wind stirred at times, it stayed dry and scoring was good, particularly from Colin Montgomerie who, unlike Rose, continued where he finished off in Germany.
The big Scot, beaten by Tiger Woods in a play-off last Monday, reached the turn in two under then went into overdrive with birdie, birdie, eagle, birdie, taking him to seven under.
Monty picked up another shot to finish with a 64 - three ahead of Andrew Coltart, who is coached by Botley Park-based Tim Barter, Mark McNulty and Denmark's Steen Tinning.
After two successive top-20 finishes in the championship, Salisbury's Gary Emerson was with Rose in the wrong half of the field after shooting a 73. He missed a four foot putt for birdie at 17 and bogied the last. Former Hampshire amateur star Mark Wiggett, a qualifier by virtue of a high finish in the West of England PGA, also finished up one over par.
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