Rose the thorn in Pike's side at Masters
IN: News | Australasian PGA | MasterCard Masters (2006) | Round Three | by | 25 Nov 2006
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Justin Rose feels his game over the last twelve months has been steadily improving and should he be wearing the gold jacket this time tomorrow, it will be a fitting end to his year. A year that's been punctuated with being in contention, yet the Englishman is winless since 2002.
Rose was frank in his comments during the press conference after his third round 68. He feels there's no room for complacency and that's not a luxury for a player ranked 69 in the world. Rose's game today exhibited anything but complacency.
In what he described as the shot of the year, a 2 iron into the par 5, 14th, where an eagle followed, Rose's game simply kept going. He would finish the third day 13 under for the tournament, two shots ahead of Raphael Jacquelin, Greg Chalmers and amateur, Aaron Pike.
Pike, the overnight leader started with a double bogey on the opening hole and by the third hole he had dropped three shots. The field then jumped on the opportunity to make up ground as the leaderboard showed that Pike was crumbling.
To Pike's credit he held in there today despite numerous lip outs. The amateur finished off with two birdies on the last two holes culminating with a victory salute, after a monster putt fell in on the 18th. The big unit was back and signalled he's a force to be reckoned with tomorrow. Justin Rose may have other ideas.
Rose's strategy tomorrow is to simply stick to his game plan of managing and focusing on the golf course, not his score and what others are doing around him.
"It's pleasing to have a third round in the 60's. There were two shots out there that I executed perfectly today. One on the 12th were the ball ended up 3 feet, the other on the 14th where I threaded a 2 iron well through the bunkers and it finished 2 feet away. It was 275 yards and was a shot of the year. I played it exactly as I imaged it."
"I feel like I've gained some confidence this year in preparation for next year. I win this week would mean a lot, like a little icing on the cake for the year, I've have being putting myself in contention a lot lately by simply sticking to my game plan."
"If there was a win tomorrow, it would certainly add to that confidence. Before the week I thought 15 under would be a winning number. I still have to go out there tomorrow and play some good golf, but I am feeling confident about my game."
Paul Casey commented at Huntingdale earlier this week that he was feeling "brain dead" after a long and arduous season in Europe and the US. He was finding it difficult to keep focus.
You would not have thought that was the case when the Englishman was the main mover in the morning, making up a five shot deficit. Casey had a chance on the 16th to take the lead outright but missed a putt for birdie. Casey finds himself in T5th moving into the final day still in contention and fully confident after claiming the HSBC Match Play earlier in the year.
The Masters on the third day was dominated by the Europeans with the Australian contingent of Chalmers, Pike and Peter Lonard, five shots from Rose.
Pike is attracting a strong following this week at Huntingdale with the crowds, especially those sitting on the upper deck of the clubhouse. The rowdy fans have taken a liking to the amateur and when his putt on the 18th went in for a birdie, his second in succession, you would have thought Pike had won the tournament.
No matter what unfolds for the amateur tomorrow, he's won the attention of many fans and played superbly this week in an environment he's not accustomed to.
One player well accustomed to the Huntingdale layout and how the gold jacket feels is Peter Lonard. He's coming off the back of a relatively quiet season in the US and has gone about his business this week at Hungtingdale under the radar. As with many tournaments, a player often bolts in at the end and there appears to be no shortage of possible candidates at this year's Masters.
Photo - Anthony Powter
