JUSTIN ROSE rekindled memories of Royal Birkdale 1998 as he eased himself into contention for the 130th British Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
A two under par 69 on day one left the 20-year-old from Hook in Hampshire high on the leaderboard and basking in his own little feelgood factor.
The youngster had good reason to give himself a pat on the back. Lytham's treacherous links snared many a world class player in the first round but Rose dropped only one shot.
The icing on the cake was an eagle at the 557-yard seventh, achieved with a 40 foot putt from just off the front of the green. He followed up with a six-footer for a birdie at the 13th which moved him into a brief share of the lead with the fast-starting Colin Montgomerie and American putting wizard Brad Faxon.
His only bogey came at the 15th where his drive kicked off left into a fairway bunker. He was staring another bogey in the face after driving into thick rough down the next, but he chipped out, found the green with his third shot and holed a 15-putter to save par.
Rose, being followed by six members of his family including dad Ken who is in remission after a year-long battle against leukaemia, admitted: "It was the most important putt of the day for me. It's good to get a bit of momentum going but when you drop a shot the last thing you want to do is drop another one right away. It's not nice to see your name slip off a leaderboard."
He missed a six footer for birdie at the 11th and had a 20-footer on the last to join Faxon as the early clubhouse leader, but wore a wry smile as his putt stayed stubbornly on the lip of the cup.
Rose needed a refresher lesson from his coach David Leadbetter after "losing his swing" in the latter stages of last week's Scottish Open.
It seemed to do the trick. He said: "My overall play yesterday was good and I was particularly encouraged by my putting. It's been a bit streaky at times but yesterday it felt comfortable. My stroke on the greens was very solid."
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