Justin Rose revealed he knew history beckoned when he matched Tiger Woods ’ record round in front of the man himself.
The Englishman seized the US Open lead with a sensational six under par round of 65 that matched the magic moment produced by Woods when he triumphed at Pebble Beach in 2000.
It’s unlikely that Rose will go on to win this title by an unprecedented 15 shots, as Tiger did almost two decades ago. Not with a bustling chasing pack on his tail, led by Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele, Louis Oosthuizen and Aaron Wise lurking just one shot behind.
But there was no hiding the 2013 champion’s delight last night as he revealed he knew the significance of his 12 foot birdie putt on the last, while playing partner Woods looked on from the fringe of the green.
Rose said: “I did know what that last putt meant because earlier in the day I’d been watching TV when Rickie had the same chance on 18 and the commentator said that was to tie Tiger’s record.
“So that was definitely in my mind, I was thinking this would be kinda cool to do in front of the great man himself.
“It was amazing to close with three straight birdies, but I wouldn’t say it’s exhilarating because my mindset is I am in a 72 hole tournament. This is just a very small step towards the outcome so you don’t feel the buzz that you would on a Sunday.
“But you can’t help but look around over your shoulder and think ‘damn, this is Pebble Beach. Shot 65 in the US Open with Tiger.’
“Whatever transpires the rest of the week, that was a cool moment.”
Woods couldn’t live with the searing pace set by Rose but the Masters champion still had reason to be satisfied with his opening 70 for one under par, despite battling with his iron play all day.
Only hitting half of the 18 greens in regulation put a huge onus on his putting to get him out of jail. And his prowess with the short stick was up to the task, one-putting an impressive 11 greens to keep himself in decent shape.
Woods said: “It’s typical Pebble Beach where the first seven holes you can get it going, and then after that you’re kind of fighting and hanging on.
“I didn’t hit my irons as crisp as I’d like. I tried to miss the ball in the correct spots and a couple of times where I had wedges in my hand I was just dumping centre of the green, get my 30-40-footer and move on.
“Take my medicine when I was in a bad spot and just kind of grind it out.
“It’s a quick turnaround into tomorrow morning. Starting off the 10th, right away that’s a tough par four from the get-go.
“It’s the harder side to start off on but I can finish up on the front side and have the full seven holes where I can get it going.”
Defending champion Brooks Koepka sits one shot better off than Tiger on two under par, yet it looked destined to be a lot better when he came flying out the traps with four birdies in the first six holes.
But his momentum stalled with a bogey on the eighth and eventually had to settle for 69.
Rory McIlroy was pleased to keep himself in the picture with a three-under par 68. A vast improvement on previous stuttering starts to the Majors this year when he shot himself out of contention from the outset at the Masters and USPGA at Bethpage.
McIlroy said: "It’s important for everybody to make a fast start but especially for me trying to get my way back to winning these big events.
“In the first two Majors this year I shot 73 at Augusta and over par at Bethpage as well and it’s so hard to chase, especially when courses are so tough.
“So to get off to such a good start you are right in the tournament, which is a nice position to be in.”
