Justin's preparation just Rosey

The 16th is Port Royal’s signature hole — and Justin Rose was blown away by the par-three test during his practice rounds.

The US Open champion had a couple of goes at the postcard-perfect hole and now believes he is ready to launch a strong bid to add the PGA Grand Slam of Golf to his list of victories.

“I went around the golf course yesterday [Sunday] morning in a golf cart, but stopped to play a couple shots here and there and putted around the greens," he said. "I thought it was a great golf course.

“I couldn't help but play 16 a couple of times, what an amazing hole that is. But today the course showed me something different, a little bit of breeze out there; to get above the hole with downgrain putts, there's a couple of holes that you have to be really defensive with the putting speed wise and I thought it was a good test of golf today. I haven't played in a heavy breeze like this for quite a while. 

“Going off the 9th, I hit a 7 iron from about 127 yards, so that has not happened for quite a while either.  It's an adjustment today just getting back into seeing and judging the wind. I think that was the biggest challenge today, but I'm glad I got that under my belt and the surprise wasn't tomorrow.”

He added: “It’s my first ever visit to the island. I’m obviously having a great time on and off the golf course — hospitality has been incredible, food has been great.  Obviously the views and the ocean and the water are best in the world.  So yeah, it's a fantastic trip.”

“This is an event that I've been aware of for years and years, and probably one that I've yearned to play in. 

“Another great thing is you get to share it with family. Everyone is so hospitable; you're encouraged to bring your family and friends and enjoy it with people that are close to you, and that's what I'm doing this week. All the people that have made sacrifices for me along the way, I wanted to bring them here and share the experience with them.”

The other bonus for Rose is the presence of good friend and Masters winners Adam Scott — and it’s clear the two feed off each other’s success.

Rose said: “To follow Adam to the very next major is unbelievable, really, because I was at Augusta and we stayed at Augusta Sunday night and my whole family were in the living room of the house that we rented watching the finish to the tournament.  We are just really pulling for Adam, and we are so excited for him.

“Actually, I've got some video on my phone of my little boy copying Adam's sort of celebration, but he was doing it in slow motion because that's what the TV kept replaying was the putt on 18 in slow motion.  So my four year old was copying it in slow motion. I shared that sort of text with Adam and stuff like that.

“But just watching other guys win tournaments, and often you're happy for them, and sometimes you're a bit envious because that's the situation you want to be in, but for Adam, I was just delighted for him, especially after how he sort of handled The Open Championship the year before.  I thought he showed all the class in the world, which is his true colors.

“So I thought he got what he deserved there at Augusta and yeah, for me to be a close friend of his — and I feel like our careers are in some ways similar.  He's probably had a little bit more of a consistent journey than myself.  But I felt like I've always just been    often I've sort of emulated him, moving to America and doing similar things.  But if he continues to win Majors, I don't mind being one step behind him, so we'll see.”

The other Major winner of the year in Bermuda this week is Jason Dufner — and the USPGA winner believes the public course is perfectly set up for a rousing finale.

He told the press after Monday’s pro-am: “Yeah, you know, right off the bat, obviously 16, kind of a signature hole here. Very difficult hole.

“Luckily the wind kind of helped us with the distance, you get a little bit of help but it's pushing towards the ocean a little bit, not much room there.  

“Especially late in the tournament come Wednesday, you could see a two shot or even a three shot swing on that hole. It’s pretty easy to make a bogey or a double on that hole and if you hit a good shot, you can pick up a couple shots.

“The next hole, 17, a little bit of a challenge, shorter par 5, but they have kind of made it tougher with some bunkering and water hazard there where you really can't get too aggressive off the tee and you have a pretty elevated second shot.

“So you know, those two holes, and then 18 is kind of a birdie hole playing downwind, so you can see a lot of change in the leaderboard.  Hopefully we'll have guys that are kind of bunched up there and give some excitement to the event.  You could see a big swing there where a guy could go through there playing 2 or 3 under, and another guy could play 2  or 3 over.  I think that finish to the golf course is pretty strong.”