JUSTIN ROSE celebrated his birthday yesterday with a superb third-round 66.
The Englishman, who turned 36, was not sure he was going to make it through to the weekend after finishing the first 36 holes two over.
The top 70 and ties qualified for the final two rounds. And when 2013 US Open champion Rose finished, there were 71 players on one over or better.
But it turned out that two over was good enough for a share of 70th place.
Several late starters squandered the chance to eliminate the English ace and the other 16 players on the same mark.
And he made the most of it shrugging off a first-hole bogey with five birdies, three of them in the final four holes, to finish on two under and move up the US PGA leaderboard.
Rose said: “The birthday present came a day early with me making the cut.
“When I tapped in to finish my round I felt I was going to be around for the weekend.
“But as the day went on I felt I might miss it and we sweated it for quite a while.
“It was one of the tightest cuts I’ve seen — too close for comfort really. But I was very happy to be out here and I made the most of it.
“The course was there for the taking. I’m not saying it’s easy but anyone who gets under par through the first six or seven holes can go really low.
“I didn’t play that great to be honest but I putted unbelievably well, which was really pleasing.
“That is what I’ve been working hard on and it was one of the first days I’ve seen a great deal of progress.”
Rose has won at least once every year since 2010 but he is still waiting for his victory of a frustrating 2016 campaign, where he has hampered by a back injury.
But he still has plenty of chances left — including the Olympic Games, where he will partner fellow Englishman Danny Willett as the GB representatives.
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Willett still seems to be suffering a reaction to his Masters triumph of three months ago — and a third-round 74 dropped him to five over par.
But Rose said: “The absence of a win is definitely on my mind but at least I’m over the back problem now and getting an extra two rounds in here before Rio should get rid of any rustiness.
“And I’ve just got to look back at 2011 which wasn’t going particularly well — and then I won the BMW Championship and turned it into a great year.”
Phil Mickelson, 46, says he can still add to his haul of five Majors after a 68.
The American, pipped by Henrik Stenson at The Open, said: “I still love to compete.
“Jason Day and Rory McIlroy are a lot younger than me but I think I can still mix it with them.”
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