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The Open Championship will forever hold a special place in the heart of Justin Rose.
It may now be some 11 years ago, but few will forget him chipping in on the 18th at Royal Birkdale as a 17-year-old amateur to secure a fourth-placed finish on his Open debut.
In the years that followed he overcame a sticky start to his professional career (21 successive missed cuts) to develop into one of the leading British players of his generation, hitting the heights by winning the 2007 Order of Merit and representing Europe at the 2008 Ryder Cup.
The Englishman, by his own high standards, has experienced a modest 2009 season to date but remains one of the Britons most likely when the majors roll around.
With the action at Turnberry now just a week away, Rose spoke to skysports.com at the launch of EA SPORTS Tiger Woods 10 to talk all things Open Championship and also joined the debate on 'Cameragate' following his good friend Ian Poulter's outburst at the French Open.
Skysports.com: How will you be preparing for this year's Open Championship at Turnberry?
Justin Rose: I've got two schools of thought right now, either to go to Ireland and play some links golf and get into the whole links thing, but my second option is just to lay low and go in under the radar, stay at home and practice and just go in mentally fresh. I feel like my golf hasn't been fantastic of late, I've missed a few cuts and I've really been working hard at it the weekends I've been off so it might be a case of taking my foot off the accelerator at the moment. I've done a lot of hard graft and good work, so maybe it will be better to go in mentally fresh rather than keep grinding it out.
S: How important is your preparation and how you use your time away from the course before a big tournament?
JR: It's vital, that's why scheduling is so important. I'm facing a bit of a catch 22 right now in that I'm a little bit behind the eight-ball in terms of money-lists, Race to Dubai, Fedex Cup and all this stuff. The only way to improve those positions is to play, earn points and make money. But the catch 22 is; what's your better chance? Are you better off taking some time off so your quality goes up and your quantity goes down? Or do you just keep banging it in and hope your week comes around quick? So that's what I'm facing right now. But more importantly I feel like I'm making progress. I played really well last week in Washington (AT&T National) - I finished 16th, but more importantly than the result I feel I performed really well. Mentally I was good, I saw some real shots of quality again and even saw one or two putts disappear which has probably been what's holding me back.
S: Given the fact you'll always be linked with the championship following your memorable debut at Royal Birkdale in 1998, do you feel any extra pressure heading into The Open every year?
JR: Maybe some years, certainly last year going back to Birkdale ten years later having won the Order of Merit in 2007, that was certainly the year when there was most fanfare, expectation and pressure and all that sort of stuff. But this year I really feel like I'm coming in below the radar. I don't feel like there's too much expectation of me and I'm just going to go there and enjoy it for what it is - which is the best tournament a British player can play. I'm going in there with much more of a free attitude come what may.
S: Have you ever played Turnberry before?
JR: I haven't, no. I've heard lots of good things about the place, my caddie knows it pretty well. I'll get up there with plenty of time to spare, get at least a couple of practice rounds in. Sometimes you can overwork at a major, you can try and be too perfect, too ready and it's a long old week. So you need to realise that the end game is actually Sunday, you need to be fresh and playing your best golf on Sunday. So if you're there the Sunday before and playing golf all week it's tough to keep a level all the time.
S: Do you have a favourite major?
JR: Each major is special. The history of the Open Championship is most special. The Masters is special because it's played at the same venue every year, you know the course at Augusta is just magic - it's like you're playing someone's back garden it's so beautiful. So each of them is special, but for me the Masters and The Open is tough to separate... I think Faldo's got a pretty cool career having three of each! But beggars can't be choosers and I'd take any one of the four right now.
S:: Before you go, we can't let you leave without getting your opinion on what happened with your good friend Ian Poulter who lost his rag at a photographer at the French Open last week. What did you make of the incident?
JR: I can sense and share his frustration sometimes. Poults is an incredibly driven person and obviously he's trying his hardest to win golf tournaments and win ranking tournaments right now. Sometimes it's frustrating when that happens, but he does certainly make his feelings known, you've got to love that about him sometimes! One shot can mean so much out there, Ian got away with it quite lightly because he finished third on his own anyway, three behind the guys who won so it probably didn't cost him what he felt it might at the time. But had it cost him that one shot that would have given him a chance to win the tournament... you can spend a whole year trying to win a tournament and can have years when you don't win and if it comes down to one camera click it can be frustrating. But I also do believe that as a professional it is part of the job, you do need to get on with it, you do need the ability to block that kind of thing out. It's an occupational hazard.
Justin Rose appears in EA SPORTS Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10, out now on all formats including Wii, and incorporating Nintendo's new Wii MotionPlus technology. For further information, please visit http://tigerwoodspgatour.easports.com
