Justin Rose leads European challenge

Britain's Justin Rose has shot a three-under-par 69 in the PGA Championship's first round to be one shot behind joint leaders Fred Funk and Jim Furyk.

Rose, using a hot putter, made five birdies and only two bogeys in recording his 69 on Thursday.

"(I am) obviously delighted," Rose said of his opening round. "I worked hard the last couple of evenings on my putting, just working on (the) pace and speed of the greens, and it paid off today."

Rose's 27 putts included nine one-putts and no three-putts.

Rose splashed on to the golfing world when he finished tied for fourth at the 1998 British Open as a amateur.

He then immediately turned professional and had a rocky ride, finishing 197th on the European Tour Order of Merit in 1999 and 122nd in 2000.

But in 2001 he finally fulfilled his early promise with four top-10 finishes and was 33rd on the Order of Merit.

This year the 22-year-old has won four events, including two on the European Tour -- the Dunhill Championship and the Victor Chandler British Masters.

He also won the Nashua Masters in South Africa and the Chunichi Crowns in Japan.

"I don't really regret the way it's turned out, to be honest, because I think all of the bad experiences I went through toughened me up," Rose said of his early career.

"(It) made me learn a lot about myself (and) made me realize I've got to practice hard and give the game a lot of respect."

Entering this week, Rose's expectations were just to make the top-20.

"I said that because I didn't really know what to expect, being my first tournament (in the U.S.) and you don't really know what you're getting yourself into."

"It's just a matter of the first couple of days, playing shot for shot, not really worried about the position you're in, and then the weekend, you start to think a little bit more."

Email this page to a friend