Rose ready for USPGA final round

Justin Rose begins the final round of the 2015 USPGA Championship three shots off Jason Day's lead

It is days like today for which tour golfers put in all the hard work, toil and trouble. It is all about getting into contention down the final stretch of major championships, and that is the prospect facing Justin Rose today in the final round of the 2015 USPGA Championship at Whistling Straits.

Rose has shot rounds of 69-67-68 to sit at 12 under par for 54 holes, in a tie for third place with his playing partner today, South Africa’s Branden Grace, and three shots off Jason Day’s lead.

“There's still some moisture in the golf course so good shots are going to get rewarded. You'll still see guys make birdie,” said Rose, 35, who won the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion. “It's going to be windier and that could be the factor that we struggle with, maybe. That's going to allow the chasing pack to have a better chance of making inroads into the lead. It's always a little bit harder playing in the lead when you've got heavy winds to contend with as well, so we'll see, but I'm in a great position and excited about the opportunity.”

As forecast, the winds are picking up at Whistling Straits this afternoon, and they have switched direction from yesterday too, to blow off the land and out into Lake Michigan. The pin positions are tougher today and the winds are speeding up the greens, so the last groups will face a more difficult golf course than they did in ideal scoring conditions yesterday.

“You’ve just got to hit good shots,” adds Rose. “Poor shots get punished more in bad wind. You’ve got to control the trajectory of your irons. It's not just about direction, it's about trajectory, so you have to strike it that much more purely in the wind.

“It's never easy to close out a major championship, but if I was to shoot 68 again, ask the question, you never know. Obviously I would like to go lower than that, but that would be the high end of what I would be thinking.”

Story courtesy of Mercedes-Benz, the Official Car of the 2015 PGA Championship.