Justin Rose disappointed to hear Rory McIlroy’s comments about Aronimink before the PGA Championship, ‘That’s a shame’

“But the greens are, as I said at the start, the greens are the main focus this week, and I think getting yourself in the right sections of the greens, making sure you leave yourself below the hole for the most part. That’s the key this week.”

Justin Rose responds to Rory McIlroy’s comments about Aronimink

It should come as no surprise to anyone if Justin Rose is able to put himself in contention this week. At one stage around the turn, he led The Masters on Sunday.

He also has an impressive recent record in the PGA Championship, with four top 10s in his last six starts at the event.

McIlroy’s comments were put to Rose as the Englishman spoke to the media. And he admitted that he was disappointed by what his Ryder Cup teammate had said.

“Yeah, that’s a shame to hear that because that’s not what a Donald Ross course is designed to be or historically has been.” he said.

“So I think that that’s the modernization of the golf course a little bit as it’s been cleaned out a little bit and lengthened a little bit. And there’s definitely some bunkers at 310 or 305 that if you can carry those the fairway does get much wider. So from that point of view I think if you have that gear I think there’s a lot of players in the field that that is the case, it’s not just going to suit particularly Rory, it’s going to suit a lot of guys that can carry the ball 300 plus.

“But, yeah, the rough’s definitely creeping up though to the point where you got to be respectful I think. I think two weeks ago the rough wasn’t up. They have really worked hard I believe from what Fooch tells me anyway, to kind of get the rough growing. It’s a different type of rough actually it’s a very thick rough it’s almost like a Kikuyu. It feels like very, it’s like a very dense rooty type of grass. So, yeah, I think there’s a little bit of respect needed to make sure you are hitting the fairways. The fairways are generous, but you still need to be on them.”

It should not be forgotten that Rose has some positive memories of Aronimink that he can utilise over the coming days.

The 2013 US Open champion made it into a playoff with Keegan Bradley when the Philadelphia venue hosted the BMW Championship eight years ago.

Unfortunately, he ended up on the losing side on that occasion. That would prove to be the last playoff Rose would lose until he faced off against Rory McIlroy at Augusta National last year.

But Rose is back playing a lot of fantastic golf. He seems to have found a way to give himself the best chance to peak at the right time.

So he can definitely be fairly optimistic about putting himself in the mix this week.