Justin Rose gave an insight into the mind of an elite professional golfer when it does not go to plan on the course after his second round in Rome.
The World Number Five powered his way to the top of the leaderboard following a run of three straight birdies around the turn to get to eight under par at the Italian Open.
A battle ensured with Dane Joachim B. Hansen as the pair traded their place at the summit before Rose salvaged a par-double bogey-par finish which eventually saw him fall three shots adrift of halfway leader Matthew Fitzpatrick at seven under.
The 11 time European Tour winner admitted there was a nagging feeling of a poor hole in the midst of some stunning approaches during the second day at Olgiata Golf Club, while also delving into his mental strategies to get himself out of any lulls in performance.
“Kind of a little erratic, really, today. Kept threatening to go make double all day,” Rose said.
“My second hole of the day, holed a 10 foot putt for bogey. My 12th hole, had to up-and-down out of a bunker for bogey, and unfortunately, eventually, did make double on my second-to-last hole there.
“Poor finish, but there was some good stuff, as well. But whenever I did make a mistake, put it behind me. Always tended to make some birdies after that. Putter again was pretty solid. Happy with that. I did hit a couple more quality golf shots which is nice.
“When you do see it come out on the golf course as it does on the range, you know you're getting close and you just need to up the frequency of that. I did hit a couple of very good shots today.
“Happy with the day's work. Yesterday I walked off maxing out what I could have scored. Today I left a few out there but everyone can walk off saying something similar.
“I always try to tell myself a story or sell myself a story. I have a few mental strategies I try to employ.
“Sometimes I play match play against the course if I think I've gone cold. Other times, I'll break it down into sort of chunks, so it doesn't seem like a big, uphill battle if you're behind. Chunk it up a little bit.
“Other times, I try to just literally hit nine out of ten golf shots and tally up how many I can hit in a day. Try to take the emphasis off the leaderboard sometimes.
“I think that's a good strategy sometimes for a second or third round, and Sunday. It's all about just getting it done, but you've got to get yourself in position.
“Sometimes I just make a game up. I'll say, ‘Right, scratch a line on my scorecard and say I'm 3down with eight to play. Just see if I can win the match’. Just change my mindset a bit.”
