Qualifiers to contenders: Justin Rose and Dan Brown unlikely Englishmen trying to end 32 years of hurt

Justin Rose leapt from qualifier to contender after making sense of the senseless at the Open to propel himself into contention for a weekend tilt at a Claret Jug.

The draw has not been kind to the 43-year-old in terms of the weather but having fought his way to the start line at Troon, Rose has been determined to make the most of his chance.

Playing in the windiest of the conditions, Rose used all his experience to shoot a 68 that was probably four strokes better.

“I said at the time of qualifying you’ve got to be in it to win it and the first big part of the journey was getting in the tournament,” he said.

“But when I look back at Burnham and Berrow, we played in a really, really tough westerly breeze and I think that little bit of experience of getting back to playing some tough links golf has probably helped me a little bit these last two days.

“Today nothing makes sense with the yardage book. It kind of goes out of the window. You’re hitting wedges from 180 yards because it’s downwind. It tipped over the edge where the elements were in control and it was kind of a bit more like survival.

“But for me today was a perfect mix of playing well and fighting well. You’re fighting through every moment on the course and I think that I did a good job of that.”

He has made only one bogey in 36 holes which is some going. It came at the 12th in his second round. Even then he used it to his advantage.

“It was almost a good time for it to happen, to reset as the course changed after the last hole into the wind. I really wanted to try and get something out of the last six holes in a positive sense,” he said.

The celebration as he curled in a long-range putt at the 18th for his fourth birdie spoke of immense satisfaction.

“That was such a fun way to finish,” he said. “There was the realisation I didn’t have to hit another shot and I could really let my guard down and enjoy the day because it was a really hard-working, good round of golf. To finish that way was obviously special with the crowds, it being a fairly full grandstand on Friday afternoon.”

Rose heads into Saturday in the slipstream of leader Shane Lowry and in the hunt at just two shots behind.

He has come close before at an Open, as a teenage amateur at Birkdale in 1998 when he came fourth and six years ago at Carnoustie when he tied for second.

The chance is there for him to end 32 years of hurt since Nick Faldo became the last Englishman to win The Open.

“We’ve got enough problems with football. I can’t bring golf into it,” said Rose.

“When I won the US Open [in 2013] it was our first since Tony Jacklin, so those are nice moments when it comes together and you can share the story of what it means, but we are pretty selfish and we want it for us. In the moment you’re just trying to get the job done.”

He has alongside him another English qualifier in Dan Brown, one from the polar opposite of the big-time spectrum in his first Major.

The farmer’s son from Northallerton in North Yorkshire, accompanied by his younger brother Ben on the bag, held it together well after his flying start which left him as first-round leader.

The expectation was that Brown’s opening 65 would be exposed as a flash in the pan and that, after his bit of fun, he would quietly move aside for more established names in round two.

It is a different ball game with the attention of leading the Open on a player.

Brown though showed no signs whatsoever of nerves in round two, calmly plotting his way around Troon in the testing conditions and he finished level with Rose, two behind Lowry.

His 72 was seven shots higher than his opening salvo but it was equally impressive in terms of the attitude he demonstrated, an unflappability which he will need to maintain over the two days ahead.

“Justin Rose is up there, and he has been in a lot of Majors, so he’ll be used to it. But I’m proud of what I’ve done, and hopefully I can continue and sort of still be lingering around on Sunday,” said the 29-year-old, who was watched by his parents Mick and Kay.

Brown has an ulterior motive in his unlikely quest to become a first-time Open winner – to change the rules of the name game which he has been saddled with throughout his career.

“I’ve had that a lot – the whole Da Vinci Code and all that kind of thing. Hopefully, I can start making a bit of a name for myself and people will say that to him: ‘Are you the golfer?’”