Rose impressed by tough Erin Hills
Justin Rose has no concerns about Erin Hills, saying he has been impressed with the U.S. Open host course.
Hosting a major for the first time, the Wisconsin course has faced plenty of criticism ahead of the tournament starting Thursday.
Its difficult rough, some of which was cut two days before the start of play, has been at the centre of complaints from players.
But Rose, the 2013 champion, said his experiences thus far had been almost entirely positive.
"I took the opportunity to come up last week, played the course on Thursday and Friday, which I really, really enjoyed. I had perfect weather," the Englishman said on Tuesday.
"It was a little cooler than it has been the last couple of days, so I really enjoyed my time out on the golf course. I felt very spoiled to have the course to myself, I have to say, which is the perfect environment in which to learn it.
"I came away with a really, really good impression. Obviously, I've seen guys talking about the rough and the hay and this and that, and of course, it's a huge penalty if you miss big this week.
"But if you play well, which is obviously what this championship is trying to identify, it's a very, very fine and playable golf course."
Just arrived.... press and then a few holes.... @usopengolf #erinhills pic.twitter.com/YXYYo1yMZN
— Justin Rose (@JustinRose99) June 13, 2017
Rose went agonisingly close to winning the Masters in April, edged by Sergio Garcia in a play-off after a dramatic final round.
But while the world number 11 carried decent form heading to Augusta, his two tournaments since then have resulted in a tie for 65th at the Players Championship and tie for 12th at the BMW PGA Championship.
"I think my season was going very smoothly into Augusta, and I was very conscious of trying to peak at the Masters, and obviously I did a good job of that," Rose said.
"I felt like I had a few top fives prior to the Masters and felt good about the way I was trending in there.
"I would say since then it's obviously been nothing to really write home about, but I do feel from a practice point of view, and some of the things I've been working on in the last month, I feel like I'm beginning to trend into this tournament.
"So although the results might not be there to kind of back that up, I feel good about where the week can go for me from here."
Rose is in a marquee group that includes Jason Day and Rory McIlroy for the opening two rounds.