MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 11, 2026

Justin Rose

Quick Quotes

Q. Yesterday going into today's round to be three behind the leaders, would you have taken that?

JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, I think so. You know, gaining four, you know, four shots on the lead, good position. Obviously there's more guys to contend with now. You know, you have Cam Young; he's playing great golf. Sam Burns obviously played in the last group and stood up and played really, really well. Shane Lowry; I think he's a great shotmaker for this golf course.

Is there someone else as well at nine? I don't know. There's a few guys to get through, which is often a lot harder. If it was one guy five ahead, it's almost an easier thing to contend with, because there's a bit more help.

The whole field is not going to help you out, put it that way. Yeah, it's going to take a special round tomorrow, so there's a chance, which is great. I'm going to try to channel a bit of last year and see what happens.

Q. Freddy Couples said yesterday -- he ranted about how much he loves this golf course. Why do you love this place so much? Why do you feed off the patrons so much? Why does this give you so much juice every year?

JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, I mean, I guess there's places you just get to even before you get to the golf course. You just arrive here and kind of take a deep breath. It's familiar faces, the same guys in the locker room. You get to know some of the members. It's begins to fel comfortable. It's always special. It never gets complacent.

That's for me the magic that I'm comfortable here, but never complacent here. I feel like there's always something to learn, something to push for. You've always got to respect the golf course. I think we're seeing it this year. Kind of getting crispy and, you know, like the par-5s, you've got to be on point with your second shots. Otherwise, you're not holding the greens.

You enjoy the experience here Monday to Wednesday, and then I don't think you enjoy another golf shot for the rest of the week, because everything is kind of -- there's high risk and high reward on every shot you hit here.

Q. A lot of the players were hitting -- doing a lot of birdies, but also bogeys. You had a very solid round, three birdies and a bogey.

JUSTIN ROSE: I felt like I could have made a couple more birdies. I just got to get the putter hot really. The last couple of days I haven't been able to quite free it up on the greens. They maybe look fast. They look really fast. A bit of hesitation in there maybe. Kind of got to get that out for tomorrow.

But, yeah, I feel like -- listen, if you make one bogey, it kind of really does restore your momentum. Always take a clean card.

Q. What do you think about Rory kind of backing up a little bit?

JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, I mean -- yeah, just know it's all to play for. It wouldn't really change anything anyway, to be honest with you. I felt like there were enough good players at 10, 11, and guys were getting into double digits. I was, Sepp, eight, and I knew I was going to have to keep going forward and pushing, irrelevant of Rory.

I was aware that he wasn't kind of stretching it out, so kind of made it feel like, yeah, all to play for.

Q. Justin, do you feel kind of similar vibes as last year and kind of hoping to do the same thing on Sunday, although have a different result at the end ultimately?

JUSTIN ROSE: I mean, after Saturday I was pretty crushed actually last year. I felt like I walked -- I felt like I had really given away the Masters and any opportunity I had to win that day.

I think I had way too many putts. I think I lost five strokes on the greens that particular day, played really nicely tee to green, turned a 69 to a 75 is how it felt. I started the day seven back.

Yeah, you know you can shoot 61. You know you can, but seven back is a long way to come from.

This week has been a lot more consistent from that point of view, and so it feels a little different going into tomorrow. I think I had to have a big mental reset going into the final round last year. You know, this year it's like -- it feels like a little bit of a free run at it.

Q. Everybody loves a redemption story. Do you feel -- how do you feel the crowd differs this year compared to years past? You've always been a fan favorite, but especially after last year, do you feel like they're really on your side this year?

JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, definitely. People have been pulling for me this week. That's a double-edged sword. If you get going with that momentum, it can really, really help. If your game is not quite living up to their hopes for you, it can kind of feel frustrating at times.

So I'm happy that I've been able to play well and feed off it, and I'm very grateful for the support. Yeah, you know, obviously should I kind of get going tomorrow, that would be a lot of fun to play in that environment.

Q. How do you toe the line tomorrow of being aggressive knowing you have to get a few birdies out there while also respecting what the course is giving?

JUSTIN ROSE: Basically I'm going to go through breaking the course down. There will be one spot to land the ball in pretty much for every pin. That's going to be the right shot to hit. It's going to give you a chance to make birdie, but it's also going to be playing the percentages, playing the odds.

Sometimes have you to trust the putter from 10, 15 feet as well. You're not going to hit every shot tight. There's a way to play. There will be a way to play every hole and every shot, and if you play it right, you'll get your chances.

Q. What would it mean to finally win this tournament?

JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, I mean, I feel like it would mean -- yeah, it would mean a lot. Obviously I feel like I come at it from a point where I've achieved a lot in the game. I feel like, you know, I can call myself a major champion, which is nice, but my ultimate goal is to win all four.

You know, if I look at where I finished in seconds in all the other ones, it's not unrealistic to think it's doable. Obviously I'm leaving it late, but that would be the ultimate goal for sure.

Q. Historically today's round is actually one of the lowest, the third round, in Masters history. I'm guessing it probably didn't seem like that to you playing.

JUSTIN ROSE: Stroke average for the course?

Q. It's rare and it's under 71, and that's what it's going to be. Given the weather, it was going to be harder.

JUSTIN ROSE: Definitely. I think the fact that there's no wind and the ball is going a long way, and I think the fairways are now running out. You are hitting 9-iron into the front pin at 11. That's a 540-yard hole. If that's playing a little softer and wetter, you're a 4-iron in there, so yeah, it's a bit of a double-edged sword.

When it's slow, it's long. Obviously now it's playing a bit shorter because it's firm. So if you are really on your game, there's a few more short irons, and the greens are just playable enough where with a 9-iron and a wedge, you can control your ball into certain pin locations.

If it was playing as long as it normally is with the greens the way they are, that would be a pretty unplayable test to golf. I think what we're gaining off the tee is offsetting a little bit the firmness of the greens.