Justin Rose disagrees with Scottie Scheffler’s controversial comments about Aronimink
· Yahoo Sports
Aronimink Golf Club played far easier on Saturday than it did for the first two days of the PGA Championship, and Justin Rose took full advantage.
Some of the pin placements were kinder, and the wind died down slightly from the day before, which allowed Rose to shoot a third round 65 to climb into contention. He finished his round two shots behind the lead, with a host of players yet to come back to the clubhouse.
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Aronimink walked back some of their incredibly tough pin positions from Friday, which came under fire from Scottie Scheffler. Scheffler said after his second round, “This is the hardest set of pin locations that I’ve seen since I’ve been on TOUR, and that includes U.S. Opens, that includes Oakmont.”
Scheffler apparently asked Rose’s caddie, Mark Fulcher, if he’d seen any harder, and apparently he said that only Shinnecock compared at the 2018 US Open. But Rose, speaking after Saturday’s play, said that he didn’t agree with Scheffler or his caddie.
Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty ImagesJustin Rose disagrees with Scottie Scheffler about PGA Championship pin positions
Rose had to work hard just to make the cut, making a chip-in eagle on the final hole to get himself just over the cut line. He clearly struggled with the tougher setup, but he still disagrees with Scheffler about just how tough the pin placements were.
The 2013 US Open winner said, “I had bigger problems to worry about. I was just trying to get my game going and maybe didn’t notice how difficult the flags were. I kind of felt like I wasn’t chasing them anyway, to be honest with you.
“But there were a lot of shots, even when you were on the green from 30, 40 feet, you would be hitting putts up to those pins and like looking at it, and it was just very awkward. You would be uphill into the grain and then up onto the top, and knowing if you hit it four or five feet past, it’s going to run off. So a lot of really tricky visuals, I think, with the putting the first couple of days.
“You can’t have it both ways, I guess. You can’t have 40-yard-wide fairways and middle-of-the-green pins. I’ve heard Scottie say it’s probably the hardest set of pins he’d seen. That didn’t strike me as being the case, but yeah, when you think about it, they were incredibly challenging.
“I think today, being a moving day, I think — I believe the pins have been set for four days, because there’s dots out on the greens. It’s not like they’re making adjustments, this feels like it’s been pretty planned out, and you can see where the pins are going to be tomorrow by little dots out on the green. So I think there’s been a strategy and a plan for the tournament.
“I think the course held up incredibly well from a scoring point of view the first two days. Obviously there was some cold, breezy weather. It is warming up, and I think that makes a big difference. Suddenly the ball is going a bit further. I think players feel a little bit better in T-shirts, and the body works a bit better, people start hitting the ball a little bit further.
“So all those things combined today, I think, just kind of made it a few shots easier.”
Rose is one of the few players to give glowing compliments to the course and its setup, and that attitude has put the victory in sight for the Englishman.
The difference Justin Rose noticed in Aronimink on Saturday compared to the first two days
Aronimink was playing totally differently on Saturday compared to the first two rounds. Some of the pin placements were easier, but there were still tough looks out there. To shoot a 65, Rose still had to play incredibly well.
Speaking after his round, he said what differences he noticed in the setup: “Not markedly different. I think just sort of subtly different. That probably makes a big difference. I think we’ve seen a lot of pins on crowns and edges.
“The first hole, actually, the pin was way back on a crown, so I kind of felt like, oh, it’s going to be much of the same kind of thing.
“I felt like think the pins are just a bit more predictable. The reason, I think when the pins get off of those little knobs and crowns, they’re not so much easier to get at, but they’re easier to putt at.
“Brian Harman in my group putted beautifully. I made some putts. I thought the pins were a little bit more easy to read. And the greens are in such good shape, so I think guys were making putts.
“Although, to be honest, the last kind of hour we were on the golf course, it started to feel tricky. The wind was picking up. It was shifting around a little bit. I don’t think you’re just going to see everybody run through the field and shoot 65 today.
“Still 5-under par is low score of the day. Obviously, anyone can go and better that this afternoon, but I don’t see it being a ton of guys going out and shooting low this afternoon.”
The PGA of America have this golf course exactly where they want it, and whatever their grand finale is on Sunday, there are bound to be fireworks.