Rose has few obstacles to overcome at AT&T National
By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM Site Producer
NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. -- Practice makes perfect. At least that's what Justin Rose is hoping for.
The practice of being in contention for a third consecutive start.
The practice of getting to Aronimink early on Saturday -- even though he was in the last group of the day -- to work on his chipping and putting.
The practice of playing fearless golf and not carrying with him the baggage for all the almosts in his career.
The practice of winning.
That last one obviously won't come easy. Rose has a four-shot lead entering the final round of the AT&T National, but Aronimink has proven to be major championship-worthy with practically every player in the field saying as much.
How difficult has this course been at times? Well, the scoring average for the week is more than a full stroke over par.
"The tougher the golf course, the bigger swing that can be made," said Ryan Moore, who is in a tie for fifth six shots back and one of those chasing Rose. "There are Justin showed yesterday there are some low scores out here. You can shoot 4, 5, 6 under. It is possible."
Possible, but not probable. Not with the way Rose is playing. He's made just two bogeys all week, one of which came on the 14th hole Saturday.
"I probably hit the wrong club there and I was in a wicked lie, long left," Rose said. "I tried to actually play safe to get it on the green, couldn't even hit the green and then got an even a worse lie. I managed to chop it to four feet and made the putt. That was probably the only little bit of emotion I showed all day with a fist pump."
That's the biggest difference between Rose this year and Rose last year. When he first came to sport psychologist Gio Valiante a month before the Memorial tournament presented by Morgan Stanley, Valiante said he wasn't surprised that Rose hadn't won in nine years.
They spent the next four weeks trying to undo all of Rose's "misaligned beliefs," as Valiante put it, and change the way he thought about golf. The result? Rose's first victory in more than 160 starts on the PGA TOUR.
The more important lesson, however, came in Hartford last week, where Rose squandered a three-shot lead and lost the Travelers Championship but managed to not stray too far from the path he's currently on.
After that final round, Rose and Valiante had their usual Monday conversation and figured out that Rose became quick and got tight, especially with his putting stroke. And though Rose says he doesn't carry any baggage -- good or bad -- from one week to the next, it's clear his play has carried over, from the Memorial, to the Travelers Championship and now to the AT&T National.
"I didn't come into this week thinking, you've just blown a win," Rose said. "I'm just coming into each week seeing it as a new challenge and starting from hole one of the tournament."
Moore is right, though. Numbers can be had at this golf course. Rose proved that on Friday and Carl Pettersson did on Saturday, shooting the day's best round with a 65 that left him in a tie for second four shots back.
Charlie Wi is right there with Pettersson and another shot back at 5 under for the week is Jeff Overton, who is one of only two players to shoot in the 60s all three rounds. The other? Rose.
Overton knows a little something about being in contention, too. In the last two-plus months, he's finished in the top 3 three times. Overton was also in the mix at the Memorial tournament -- until he shot a final-round 73 to tie for 12th. Maybe he'll learn the same lessons Rose has.
Or maybe Rose will learn from all those questions he asked himself a week ago in Hartford.
"I think it's just about not brushing stuff under the carpet, facing up to it, what did I do well, what did I do badly, how can I do something better going forward?" Rose said. "It's not rocket science. I'm not asking myself Einstein type questions."
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