Justin Rose looking for more fine Philly form at US PGA Championship

It is unlikely there will be many players in the field for this week's US PGA Championship who arrive with more confidence than Justin Rose.

And that is not just because he arrives as the World Number Seven even at the age of 45 and a player with two PGA TOUR wins in the last nine months.

It is in fact his age that comes to his advantage as, although Aronimink Golf Club is not a common stop for most professionals, he has played it three times in competitive action.

In 2010 he won his second PGA TOUR title at the AT&T National and 12 months later he finished 15th in his defence before losing out in a play-off to Keegan Bradley at the 2018 BMW Championship.

The latter result also moved him to World Number One for the first time so it is safe to say that, as well as a course knowledge many others will not have, the Englishman is also carrying some fond memories.

"Great to be back in the Philly area, obviously Aronimink's been a course that's been kind to me in the past," he said.

"It's undergone a few changes over the last 15, 20 years or whatever it's been that we've been coming here, but still a wonderful golf course. I loved being out there today.

"I only saw nine holes so far but just trying to reacquaint myself with the nuances of it really.

"It's just a beautiful old school track. It's clearly been modernised a bit in the recent years but still has great character and it's going to be a lot of fun to play this week."

The Philadelphia region not only brings back fond memories of Aronimink but also Merion - the venue just 15 minutes east where Rose won the U.S. Open in 2013, thus far his only Major.

"I think the whole area feels very familiar to the part of England I leave in," he added. "Very leafy, very green. Even this time of year I feel like the spring here is very much like the spring in England right now. So it feels very familiar from that point of view.

"I think some of the golf course design in this area is sort of reminiscent of sort of some of the courses in Surrey that I've kind of grown up playing. I like the old-school golf. I like old-school tests of golf. I like the design and the architecture of these classic old courses, to be honest with you.

"I've fortunately done well on these style of tracks and therefore kind of built a nice rapport with Philly and the crowd have kind of sensed that. And I do, I get great support out there because of that. So it's been a lot of fun to kind of always come back to this part of the country and play.

"I try to come back to this area and I try to come back to Merion once every year. I normally come back in the fall. Fall golf in this part of the world is incredible. I think it's some of the best in the world. When the trees are turning, the weather's still fantastic up here late into October. So yeah, it's one of my favorite places to play.

"And obviously Merion will be a place close to my heart forever.

"You have Merion Golf Club, which obviously I think sits, I'm biased, at the very top. But you have Aronimink, you have Philly Cricket Club, you have so many really good golf courses in this area that you could spend days and days and days travelling around this area and playing great golf."

Rose's Major top threes

Since that U.S. Open victory 13 years ago Rose has three times been a runner-up at the Masters, twice finished second at The Open and has four top tens in his last six appearances at this event.

With him also having Rolex Series titles, World Golf Championships, Olympic Gold, number one on both sides of the Atlantic and Ryder Cup glory on his CV, Rose could maybe be forgiven for resting on his laurels at an age where many of peers would be contemplating retirement.

The man who started his career with 21 missed cuts can perhaps understand the value of being competitive better than most, however, and he still has his eyes on the game's biggest prizes.

"I regard (Majors) as my goals, my main objectives," he said. "But I regard them as more kind of coveted now because you never quite know how many you've got left, especially at the peak of your game or especially at the level where you think you can still win them. So for sure they're huge opportunities to kind of bolster a good career, for sure.

"They're hugely important and they kind of get most of my attention during the season for sure."