During the course of his decorated career, Justin Rose has carved a well-deserved reputation as one of the best ball-strikers of the past two decades. What has been largely overlooked is that his short game is of a pretty high order as well.
That's unlikely to be the case anymore following two remarkable rounds at the US Open, where the Englishman earned the early halfway lead almost entirely due to prodigious feats of scrambling.
On Thursday he had just 22 putts in a 65 that equalled the lowest first round score witnessed in a major on this storied course. In the second round on Friday, he had to work equally hard for a 70 and a seven under par total that left him two clear of American Aaron Wise.
Justin Rose pulls off a great escape as he played himself out of the bunker at the 12th hole
The 22 year old Wise had been tipped by Brooks Koepka before the event began to make an impression and clearly relished the boost in confidence.
Speaking of the major man, Koepka's hopes of another successful defence remained intact following a second 69.
He made his move in classic US Open fashion, plodding along for 14 holes but showing commendable patience and getting his reward with two late birdies.
'I'm good at this patient game,' said the 29 year old. 'My ball striking was so much better than my first round and I'm happy going into the weekend.'
This was an eventful morning at America's national championship, where Jordan Spieth and Ian Poulter both simmered. Spieth had been unhappy with his caddie Michael Greller in the first round.
Rose's short game is of a pretty high order as he hit a seven under par on Friday
Imagine his mood when he played from a fairway bunker - and Greller hadn't noticed the bunker rake directly in his line, on the other side of the bunker. Spieth's ball clattered into it, and it was perhaps as well for Greller that his man restricted the damage to a bogey. The Texan finished with a 69 to be six back.
Poulter's ball at the third ended in a lie on the back of a bunker so horrific he actually failed to make contact on his first attempt to play it, and moved it about 2ft on his second. He ended up with a quadruple bogey eight.
Typical Poults, he fought back to play the rest of the round in two under - but, at four over, he was unlikely to make the halfway cut.
It was just 12
