Justin Rose was the winner of the fourth annual AT&T Classic, which was also the first year it was held at Aronimink Golf Club outside of Philadelphia. Now that the tournament makes its swan song at Aronimink, Rose is back to defend his title. Rose said that his week that he was excited to be back and looks forward to the test presented by the course.
It's always a nice feeling coming back to a venue where you've played well, especially a great venue like this one. I think this one really gets a lot of the players very excited, and it's the kind of test of golf that I enjoy playing. It really suits or tests your all-around game
Rose said that specifically he likes the way Aronimink is set up and enjoys the fact that the course isn't know for super low scores.
I think you have to drive the ball well. I like the way they've set it up. There is a bit of rough out there on the golf course. I think all year we've played a lot of golf courses this year where the rough has been down, whereas I think this really brings ball-striking into the equation as much as anywhere we've played all year. You've got to hit the fairways; very difficult to play from the rough. And then I think you've got to be very patient and got to have great strategy. It's a golf course where it's not going to necessarily be 20-under par. I like that.
He says the course can be unforgiving if your short game is off.
I like the fact that if you do miss the green it's not your standard up-and-downs. You've got to really play a great short game shot to get the ball up-and-down. There's also other areas that you cannot get the ball up-and-down and need to know that beforehand and miss in the appropriate spot. So a lot of thinking out there, and if you do hit a poor shot it takes a great recovery shot to make par, so I think it tests all aspects of your game.
This will be the final year the AT&T National is held at Aronimink. Next year, the tournament shifts back to Congressional outside of DC, which hosted this year's US Open.