US PGA CHAMPIONSHIPAS A golfer, Justin Rose is an enigma. An exceptional player, to be sure; but an enigma nonetheless.
Yesterday, in the second round of the 90th US PGA championship over a course at Oakland Hills Country Club described as "nasty" and "very difficult" by his peers, the Englishman - with one eye on Ryder Cup qualification - contrived to defy logic as much as the elements in moving into contention in the season's final major.
In shooting a second round 67 for 140, level par, Rose leapfrogged players with all the zest of a child in the playground. While other players walked to the recorder's hut mentally battered and bruised by playing the course, with the test made all the more severe by a swirling wind, Rose was left unscathed and on track after an astonishing day with the putter in his hand.
Rose required just 25 putts, a feat made all the more remarkable by the fact that putting has been his nemesis for much of this year. In fact, he is ranked a very lowly 197th in the putting statistics on the US Tour. Yet, as if to prove that everyone has their day when the putter becomes a magic wand, Rose putted fearlessly on the notoriously difficult greens here.
On a day when firm greens and a pernickety wind accentuated the challenge for players, American JB Holmes shot a second round 68 that enabled him to claim the clubhouse lead on 139, one under, with the unheralded Charlie Wi, former British Open champion Ben Curtis and Rose reaching the 36-holes midpoint a stroke adrift.
An indication of the ferocious nature of the Oakland Hills greens came with the failure of Vijay Singh to survive the cut, the Fijian - who took 31 putts on Thursday requiring another 32 yesterday - as he compiled successive rounds of 76. Just a week after he had defied his weakness with the broomhandle putter to win the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, his Achilles heel found him out on this occasion.
Others, too, succumbed. Colin Montgomerie endured his worst day on a golf course in a major as he shot an 84, 14 over par, for a 20-over tally while overnight co-leader Robert Karlsson experienced the flipside of the game with a 77 to add to his opening 68 that saw him slide to 145, the same mark as Pádraig Harrington. Jeev Milka Singh, meanwhile, took 74 to fall three shots back of Holmes.
All of which made Rose's round - which featured four birdies and a sole bogey on the 18th, his ninth hole - all the better.
"It's been a waiting game, I suppose, to start putting well again," he remarked.
"All year, parts of my game have been up and down but putting is one area I haven't had any confidence with . . . it's just been a matter of waiting for the confidence to come back, to believe in yourself again. That's how fickle it is, I suppose."
In recent months, Rose has been struggling to find form. He'd slid down the world rankings - from a top-10 position to a current 16th - and his prospects of an automatic place on Europe's Ryder Cup team were left hanging by a thread coming into this championship.
"I knew this week was key to the Ryder Cup, and it still is key. There's two days to go here, and the key for me is to play good golf and not to get ahead of myself and think about the Ryder Cup . . . today, I was really in the moment and that's clearly my goal for the weekend."
Last year, Rose had top-12 finishes in all four majors: the Masters (5th), US Open (10th), British Open (12th) and the US PGA (12th). This season, after leading the first round of the Masters, he eventually fell away to finish tied-38th and then missed the cut at the US Open and finished a lowly tied-70th at the British Open. "Sometimes, when your game is not quite on the mark, these sort of tournaments really find you out," he said.
Ironically, the key to Rose's momentum came on the Par 4 18th hole yesterday rather than with his birdies - which came on the 12th, 15th, second and fourth holes - where he actually incurred a bogey.
There, Rose drove into a fairway bunker down the right where he the ball finished up the face of the trap. From there, he found another fairway bunker just 30 yards up where he got a plugged lie and could only hack it back onto the fairway. With a seven-iron in hand for his fourth shot, Rose hit the approach to eight feet and sank the putt for a bogey.
While Tom Lehman described the course as "very difficult" and Rocco Mediate referred to it as "so nasty right now," a number of players managed to prove that there is always a way to prosper. Holmes, for one, showed it was possible: hitting 14 of 18 greens in regulation, and claiming the clubhouse lead on 139, one under.
With a reputation as the longest hitter on tour, Holmes showed there was more to his game than the driver with some nice touches with the putter, including a 25-footer for birdie on the 14th.
Still, he cold empathise with the plight of some of the other players.
"There are a lot of holes out there that are almost unplayable," admitted Holmes, "they are a little ridiculous . . . . but you have to take a (tough) approach. I played great, hit the ball really well.
"Overall, a very good ball-striking round is probably the best way to describe it."
Holmes is a new kid on the block when it comes to contending in majors. If he were to look over his shoulder, he'd see the likes of Rose lurking - and major-winners Ben Curtis (level par), David Toms (one-over) and Angel Cabrera (two over).
Sergio Garcia, also two-over par following a 73, marred his fine round by four-putting the 17th for a double bogey but he remains in contention, as does Phil Mickelson. However Holmes isn't scared. "I'm hitting the ball good. I feel pretty good going into the weekend," he said.
