Reuters, 28/01 04:42 CET

By Mark Lamport-Stokes

SAN DIEGO (Reuters) – Justin Rose was proud of how he battled through a stomach bug for the first two rounds of the Farmers Insurance Open after coming close to withdrawing on the eve of the tournament.

The 31-year-old, who was put on an intravenous drip before the start of the opening round, fired a four-under-par 68 on Friday to climb up the leaderboard into a tie for 30th at five-under 139.

“I am happy with where I am at for my first tournament of the year,” Englishman Rose told Reuters after mixing five birdies with a lone bogey on a breezy day of sunshine at Torrey Pines.

“This bug forced me to be patient, it forced me not to get too far ahead of myself and it forced me to do a lot of good things mentally that will set a good foundation for the rest of the year.

“I feel like I have accepted the good and the bad out there pretty well this week and that’s a good formula for the rest of the year.”

World number 16 Rose, who won his third PGA Tour title during last year’s FedExCup playoffs at the elite BMW Championship, conceded he had very nearly pulled out of this week’s event before the opening round.

He first felt sick on Wednesday afternoon, lost a lot of fluid that night and called a doctor first thing on Thursday morning.

“I really thought I was going to have to withdraw,” Rose said. “I couldn’t walk around my first tournament of the year throwing up all the way around.

“But luckily that stopped in the early hours of the morning and then I just tried to get myself as refreshed as I could to tee off at 10.”

BATTLING ROUND

After having two litres of fluid pumped into him intravenously, Rose went on to card a one-under-par 71 on the tricky South Course in the first round but it was a battle for him all day.

“My legs went around the turn but we battled but my caddie was great. There was enough food in the bag for us to go to the North Pole,” he smiled. We were fully kitted out for every eventuality.

“So we managed to survive. And today wasn’t much better, to be honest with you. I went back to my room for a couple of hours after the round but I feel a bit better now.”

Rose, speaking just before he began to hit a few practice chips and putts on a glorious evening at Torrey Pines, said the uncertainty of the stomach bug was his biggest concern going into the weekend.

“It’s just the unnerving nature of not knowing what your body’s going to do,” he added. “I am hoping if the body settles down, I won’t feel too bad.

“I’ve got all my strength, which is a good thing. If I can just get a bit more confidence in the stomach, I will be in good shape.”

(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in San Diego; Editing by Patrick Johnston)