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• Justin Rose recalls ‘magical’ US Open triumph 10 years on

  A decade may have passed since Justin Rose won the US Open, but unsurprisingly memories of his momentous achievement at Merion quickly come flooding back.

  “It turned into a magical week and there were so many factors in play,” Rose told the PA news agency in an exclusive interview.

  “It was one of the first majors that I really identified as a huge opportunity and I really went out of my way to prepare for, really did things a little bit differently that week.

  “There was some great preparation mixed in with kind of a mystical side of it being Father’s Day, me feeling like my dad was watching down and being very much a motivating factor for me that week.”

  Yet it was a week which could easily have turned out so differently.

  The preparation Rose alluded to was three full days spent at Merion the week before the championship, only for the conditions to change significantly following a downpour caused by the remnants of tropical storm Andrea.

  With torrential rain continuing to fall on the East Course, plans were even put in place to use two holes on the West Course, while Ian Poulter offered an illuminating response when asked whose game would be suited to the test.

  “Someone who can use flippers and snorkel the best,” Poulter replied.

  “That was fortuitous that the bad weather came in and I wasn’t around for it, but in some ways it made me doubt my preparation because I’d seen Merion in a certain way,” Rose recalled.

  “The course was playing fantastically and it was a US Open so you build your game plan in a way to think, ‘How can I get round this course without making mistakes and shoot even par?’

  “Then all the rain came down and softened up the course and all the Golf Channel pundits are saying it was going to be a bloodbath, birdies everywhere and double digits under par was going to win.

  “I was like, ‘Oh well, that was a bit of a waste of time then,’ but it was too late to change my game plan so I stuck with it and, lo and behold, one over par won the golf tournament.”

  That winning total belonged to Rose following a dramatic final round played out alongside Luke Donald, the English duo starting the day two shots behind Phil Mickelson, who was celebrating his 43rd birthday.

  Mickelson double-bogeyed the third and fifth to limp to the turn in 39 before holing out for an eagle on the short par-four 10th, only for Rose to immediately respond with birdies on the 12th and 13th to reclaim the lead.

  Two bogeys in three holes from both players left Rose one ahead on the 18th tee, from where he hit a perfect drive to within a few yards of the plaque which commemorates Ben Hogan’s one-iron to the 72nd hole of the 1950 US Open, which helped get the American into a play-off the following day which he went on to win.

  “I hit probably the best shot of my life at the right time which ultimately ended up missing the green, which shows you how hard that shot is in there,” Rose laughed.

  “I left myself in the perfect spot really to make an easy four which I hoped was going to be good enough.”

  After tapping in for par, Rose raised his fingers to the sky in tribute to his father Ken, a massive influence on his career who died from leukaemia in 2002.

  “Being a father myself by that point in my life, it was very special,” he said.

  “My coach at the time, Sean Foley, sent me a really great message the morning of the final round making it clear what a good day would look like.

  “It wasn’t necessarily based upon the result, it was more about going out there and carrying myself in a way that would make not just my dad proud, but my kids, being a role model for them and showing them how to carry yourself in pressure situations.

  “Obviously I had to wait for the final groups to finish, so there was some nail biting going on because I felt like I had done enough and you can almost taste victory at that point.

  “I would have hoped it would have been the catalyst to go on and win some more majors, but that obviously isn’t the case yet.

  “Having that monkey off the back was a huge relief at that point in my career. It came before there were any questions on being the best player not to have won a major – it was nice to take care of business and I hoped the freedom of that would have kicked me on to win more.

  “I’ve had a few opportunities and that’s where majors are hard to win because yes, you have to play great golf, but you also need that little moment of brilliance or luck right at the end that gets the job done.”

• Rory McIlroy boosts chances of third RBC Canadian Open title with flawless 67

  Rory McIlroy boosted his chances of a third consecutive RBC Canadian Open title with a flawless second round of 67 in Ontario.

  McIlroy recorded five birdies at Oakdale Golf and Country Club to improve to six under par, three shots off the halfway lead held by China’s Carl Yuan.

  The world number three first won the tournament by seven shots in 2019 but it was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. McIlroy carded a closing 62 to win at St George’s 12 months ago.

  Asked about trying to win the title for a third time on a third different course, McIlroy said: “I sort of like it.

  “I like reacting to what I’m seeing out there and targets. And I’m not a great player at playing a course by memory.

  “There’s certain venues on tour that I go back to and I play well, but it’s not really because I remember how putts are breaking or where to miss it. It’s just I feel comfortable at that venue.”

  Rounds of 68 and 67 gave Yuan a one-shot lead over home favourite Corey Conners, C.T. Pan and the English pair of Tyrrell Hatton and Aaron Rai.

  Hatton, who fired six birdies in seven holes from the seventh in his 64, said: “A lot of putts went in, which was nice.

  “The greens were a bit funky this afternoon; I managed to hit my start line, they’d bobble off line and thankfully they bobbled back on line and went in. Just happy to see the ball go in the hole and have a decent day.”

  Rai was three over par after six holes of his opening round, but has played the next 30 in 11 under in pursuit of his first PGA Tour title.

  “It’s a funny game and you can sometimes be playing great but sometimes be doubtful in the mind and not feel amazing over certain shots,” Rai said.

  “You can sometimes be playing quite poorly but then kind of flick a switch in the mind and feel very positive about what you’re doing and what’s to come.

  “So I think that was the biggest thing that even on hole number seven (on Thursday), although I was three over I felt pretty calm and pretty settled in the situation we were in. I think that was key for then finishing off the round very strongly.”

• England’s Dale Whitnell holds six-shot lead at Scandinavian Mixed

  England’s Dale Whitnell carded a stunning second round of 61 to open up a commanding six-shot lead at the halfway stage of the Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed in Stockholm.

  Whitnell fired six birdies in his first eight holes and started the back nine at Ullna Golf and Country Club with three more in succession from the 10th.

  A 10th birdie of the day on the 15th left the 34-year-old needing to play the last three holes in three under to card the second 59 in DP World Tour history, but he could only par 16 and 17 before making a birdie on the last.

  At 17 under par, Whitnell held a six-shot lead over Germany’s Ryder Cup hopeful Yannik Paul, with Scotland’s Richie Ramsay another shot back after a bogey-free 66.

  England’s Alice Hewson and France’s Emma Grechi were the leading female players on five under par in the unique event which sees 78 men and 78 women compete on the same course for one prize fund and one trophy.

  Defending champion Linn Grant, who recorded a stunning nine-shot victory 12 months ago in Halmstad, added a 69 to her opening 72 to lie three under.