Earlier in the week, at the Meet the Players Press Conference held in Central, Rose had talked about how he had arrived in 2011 without a real plan on how to tackle Fanling. Too often, he said, he found himself out of position off the tee. There's only one way to play successfully at the Hong Kong Golf Club and it is from the fairway, was essentially the gist of what he had to say. Whether Dustin Johnson, who Rose was sat next to, was listening or not cannot be confirmed. The number of times the big-hitting American unleashed his driver - and into trouble - over the course of his 36 holes would suggest he didn't.
This time around, Rose had a plan - and he stuck to it. On the evening of his win, which pushed him up to six in the Official World Golf Ranking, Rose posted a rather odd video of himself on Instagram, the social networking platform. Padding around his hotel room with a cup of tea in hand (he had to be up early the next morning to host a corporate event at Shek O), the clearly excited Rose can be heard extolling the virtues of his new TaylorMade 3-iron, declaring it the "most valuable member of the team." The reason? The 35-year-old Ryder Cup star hit the club more than any other off the tee, pounding it upwards of 260 yards - and, more importantly, into the fairway. When you have one of the best approach games on the planet and a putting stroke to match, you can afford to keep the driver in the bag, particularly at Fanling.
It's often said that the UBS Hong Kong Open is one of the pros' favourite stops on tour. After talking to a great many players during the week, I can confirm this is true. Rose had talked from the start about the "refreshing challenge" that the Composite provides, and his peers clearly agree with him. The fact that Fanling isn't yet another 7,400-yard monster is one reason, its focus on the strategic elements of their games is another. "If you can hit your driver long and straight and have your putting with you, you stand a chance to win - that's what you have to do these days," said one, who wished to remain anonymous. "It's like that week in, week out. It gets boring."
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