Round 4: PGA Championship

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Justin Rose hit 12 fairways and 16 greens in regulation as he shot 66 Sunday.

By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. –  For the second straight day, Justin Rose got things going on the front nine at the Ocean Course.

Only Sunday, Rose was able to finish things off after making the turn in 32. He went on to shoot 66, four strokes better than he did on Saturday, to vault up the leaderboard and finish the 94th PGA Championship at 4 under.

"From my perspective obviously a really great way to finish," Rose said. "Had a great round going yesterday, didn’t manage to finish it off, whereas I did today. I know I hit it in the water on 17, but I was kind of happy with that. I had my foot on the accelerator, and I felt like I had a hot hand, and I was really thinking if I could finish 2 3, post a number and see what happens. At that point it was worth a try.
   
"But very happy with my day’s golf and made some putts down the stretch, which is probably what I haven’t been doing of late. If I look at my last two weekends, Firestone and here, I’m feeling very good about all the tournaments I have coming up."

As well he should. Rose, who picked up his fourth PGA TOUR victory earlier this year at the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship, will head into the FedExCup Playoffs with momentum after a top-10 finishes in his last two starts. He tied for fifth last week at the Bridgestone Invitational.

Not to mention, the tie for fourth at Kiawah was Rose’s second top-10 in a major this year, along with a tie for eighth at the Masters.

"I’ve got a lot of self-belief now," Rose said. "I think my game is good enough to win these golf tournaments. At Augusta I was right up there, finished eighth in the end. The U.S. Open I only finished six back (in a tie for 21st), and there’s a million shots I wish I could take over that week.  And obviously this week … wherever it ends up at, more evidence that my game is moving in the right direction."

Rose was pleased to see Ian Poulter playing well as the Ryder Cup approaches, too. Poulter, who was on the outside looking in for Jose Maria Olazabal’s European Tour, who made a charge before tying with Rose at 4 under Sunday.

"Obviously Poults, he’s tenacious and a fiery competitor, and I think he was backing himself with these two big weeks, including last week at the World Golf Championship, making a bunch of points," Rose said. "I think he felt good about his game. There’s something about Ian when he gets into the big occasion he thrives, and he’s exactly the kind of guy you want on the Ryder Cup team."