Justin Rose overcomes 'weird' start to stay out in front in Betfred British Masters

It looked as though he might be upstaged by an amateur at one point but, at the halfway stage, Justin Rose is still living up to his star billing in the Betfred British Masters at The Belfry.

Justin Rose tees off on the third hole during day two of the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo at The Belfry. Picture: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images.

After compiling what he described as the “cleanest round of golf I’ve played in a long, long time” as he opened with a seven-under-par 65, Rose’s second circuit was a tousy affair.

The world No 31 dropped four shots in the first ten holes on the Brabazon Course to slip down the leaderboard before turning his day around by covering the last seven holes in three under.

On six under, he shares the lead with Antoine Rozner after the Frenchman had posted a 68 earlier in the day, with the duo being chased by a group that includes defending champion Thorbjorn Olesen, Ryder Cup contender Yannik Paul and English amateur John Gough.

"It felt like a very, very tough day,'' said Rose, who won this event at Woburn in 2002 before hosting it in 2018 at Walton Heath. "I got off to kind of a weird start, I didn't feel like I was hitting poor shots and three-putted number one. The hole looked a little smaller for some reason. It wasn't easy and this golf course holds up. Every year it has a pretty stout winning score and you can see why.”

A first birdie of the day at the par-3 12th was a big moment in the round. "It was one of those moments to step up and hit a good shot," he said of his 6-iron from a “perfect” distance of 204 yards. “But it was a slippery six foot, left-to-righter, which, att the time, felt like a pretty big challenge. But to knock that one in and back it up with a birdie on the next felt like it got me forgetting about the front nine.

"I made some mistakes clearly, so actually delighted to bring it back and finish minus six. A good result out of the day I think and also generally feel pretty decent with how I played today. Just three three-putts and one or two little errors which crept in but not too bad considering what was a tough afternoon.

"I did readjust and tried to say to myself I can make three birdies coming in down the last seven holes and that's kind of how it played out. It was a good gutsy finish I suppose and dinner will taste good because of that. Through 36 holes I'm in a great spot."

Before heading out, Rose took part in a live TV interview in the middle of his practice session. “I enjoyed it,” he said. “I thought it was good content. It was cool and I do see the value in doing that. There's been initiatives on the PGA Tour and I haven't partaken in it much, but I thought it was fun.”

On a day when Welshman Rhys Enoch holed a 4-iron for an albatross 2 at the third, Gough defied his lack of experience at this level by adding a 71 to his opening 68.