AUGUSTA, Ga. – Justin Rose opted to skip the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play a couple of weeks ago in order to be fresh for the Masters.
He still got his match-play fix on Friday at Augusta National.
After seeing his four-shot lead at the end of Day 1 shrink quickly during a 3-over start through seven holes, Rose blocked out the list of names closing the gap and focused solely on beating the golf course.
“The finger was heading toward the panic button a little bit,” Rose said. “I had a little talk with myself on 8 and said, You're still leading the Masters, and I just changed my mindset a little bit and started to play match play against the golf course.