Justin Rose believes he played his best round this year to trail American JB Holmes by just one shot in the USPGA Championship.Rose is tied with Ben Curtis and Charlie Wi on level par while Spaniard Sergio Garcia is among a group a further two shots back on two over, one ahead of Phil Mickelson.
Englishman Rose, who still holds the final automatic qualifying spot for the European Ryder Cup team, could barely contain his joy at a fine round that puts him right in contention to claim his first major.
He said: "I'm ecstatic with that round of golf. It is my round of the year for sure. It's the kind of round I've been looking for to get myself back on the leaderboard and feeling the good vibes.
"The key for me to play good golf is to not get ahead of myself and think about Ryder Cup."
Despite leading the pack, Holmes insisted he missed a few opportunities that would have given him an even better round.
"I hit the ball really well today," he said. "Sixty-eight is a great score. I am glad I got in with that but I also felt I left a few out there."
