Justin Rose refuses to rule out his chances despite a two-over-par start

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/sep/11/justin-rose-fedex-cup-patrick-reed

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From a starting position of 26th, it always looked a long shot for Justin Rose to win the FedEx Cup. That much was further endorsed on the outskirts of Atlanta on Thursday, with the Englishman slipping to an opening round of 72 at the Tour Championship.

If there is consolation for Rose, who is two over par, it can be found in the fact that no player has yet been able to rip East Lake apart. The venue is playing softer and longer than is routinely the case, rendering the final FedEx event – and fourth tournament in as many weeks – as something of a slog in seriously humid conditions for the 29 competitors.

“I missed loads of short putts,” said Rose. “You can’t play golf when you do that. I just squandered many, many shots. I thought the course was playing easy today so it is disappointing, really.

“It isn’t a great start. I need to put a couple of good rounds together between now and Sunday to give myself a chance. I like this golf course, I feel like it does suit my eye and I know how to play it. I just need to take advantage around the greens.”

With two bogeys and the same number of birdies on the opening nine, Rose had reached the turn in 35. Trouble was to follow courtesy of dropped shots at the 10th, 11th and par-five 15th. The final one of those arrived after the Englishman left a shot in a bunker.

“I was taking off a bit more than I could chew there at that point in the round,” Rose conceded. The 2013 US Open champion has endured a further issue with his drives sliding to the right.

Rose sat out the Deutsche Bank Championship, the second FedEx play-off event, to try to limit late-season fatigue. He admitted, however, to the troubles associated with a draining summer.

“I think so,” said Rose when asked if tiredness was generally playing a part in unspectacular scoring. “I think guys are battling away, for sure. I did take a week off but I am tired, it’s just the point of the season. It is the same every year, this year a little more enhanced because there is four events in a row. But I should be a little less tired than everybody else so I have got no excuses.

“You just see guys getting a little more frustrated out there, maybe making the odd silly mistake. It is just mental errors, really, instead of being sharp. We are all facing issues of kids crying for their parents and this and that. It’s just life, really, and you have to be away from home for a long time.”

In a Ryder Cup context, the ominous sign for Europe’s captain, Paul McGinley, was a clutch of United States players on the leaderboard. Patrick Reed, Zach Johnson, Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson, Jordan Spieth and Matt Kuchar all have legitimate aspirations of Tour Championship glory after day one.

Two Australians, Adam Scott and Jason Day, are also prominent with 54 holes still to play.

With late afternoon storms included in the forecast for Friday, the PGA Tour has advanced tee times to between 8.45am and 11am local time.