Justin Rose rolls with the punches to keep in touch with the leaders at the US PGA Championship

The weeds are no place for a man named Justin Rose but sometimes the scenic route can still lead to good places.

In the case of the former US Open champion, that meant a 36-hole tally of one under par after he followed his first-round 69 with an adventurous 70 yesterday.

That is a solid number on this brutal stretch at Oak Hill, especially in consideration of how it was achieved. Ordinarily, this course is desperately unkind to those who are wayward off the tee, and to that end Rose hit only two fairways out of 14, but he rolled with the punches for a score that looked set to age well with time.

Given his place among the early starters, it was good enough for a share of the clubhouse lead with Taylor Pendrith as afternoon turned to evening locally, and he will remain in the higher altitudes when the third round commences today. By then, he will have been passed by some on the course.

Among them, Scottie Scheffler had reached six under through 15, tied by Corey Conners, who had played one less.

Justin Rose followed his first-round 69 with an adventurous 70 at the US PGA Championship

Most intriguingly from an English perspective was the 32-year-old journeyman Callum Tarren, who picked up four strokes through 13 to reach three under.

He spent a chunk of his career playing a fringe tour in China, so this has already been an excellent week for the world No 169 — as it happens he holds the same ranking as Shaun Micheel did when he won here in 2003.

As for Rory McIlroy, he was one over through 15, so no ground lost nor gained from a difficult first round, albeit with an improved performance from the tee.

While they were still battling the rain out on the course, Rose was able to reflect on a satisfying day at work.

‘I think it went pretty well,’ he said. ‘The golf course was tough — I thought the setup was remarkably difficult, as well, considering the strength of the wind. I am happy to finish under par.

‘It’s smoke and mirrors, I guess. The fact that I made 10 pars is remarkable considering how I’ve put the ball in play off the tee.’

Rose, who broke a four-year winless run at Pebble Beach in February, added: ‘I think historically I’ve won on harder golf courses, so I think it fits my profile from that point of view.

‘This course is right up there and I’m looking forward to the test, I think.

‘Winning at Pebble Beach was important for proving I can win again. Not necessarily just winning, but how I won. I felt very, very comfortable once I kind of got into that winning position.

‘I’ve done it before, and just the fact of knowing I can do it again is important.’

In what was a long day, Rose was back on the course at 7am to finish the final four holes of his first round, which had been delayed by frost on Thursday.

He was well-placed at one under when he resumed on the 15th and that was the same score on which he started his second loop shortly afterwards. The advantage was that he would do his work in the brighter morning conditions and he capitalised well.

Opening on the back nine, Rose sank a 15-foot putt for birdie on the 10th, scrambled a par from the sand at the next, and holed a 26-footer to gain another stroke at the par-four 12th.

Tyrrell Hatton bounced back from a 77 to card a 68 in the second round and reach five over

Phil Mickelson could still make the cut despite being ‘terrible’ in the opening two rounds

A hot putter and excellent iron play compensated for some poor drives and combined they bought Rose another birdie via the rough at 16, before a bogey at 18 triggered a run of five straight pars. It wasn’t until the sixth that Rose actually hit a fairway — his 15th hole of the round — but on the hardest par four on the course he bogeyed to return to two under. A third dropped shot at seven took to him one over.

Less success went the way of Dustin Johnson, who opened at three under after an excellent 67 but coughed up four shots in his 74 on Friday.

His playing partner, Tyrrell Hatton, went the other way with a 68 on the back of a 77 to reach five over, repairing some of the damage. That put him a shot inside the projected cut of six over, as was Phil Mickelson.

The story of the opening day belonged to Eric Cole, the world No 122, who had led at five under with four to play when he resumed play in the morning. Returning to the middle of the sixth fairway, he promptly dumped his approach in the water and his day only got worse — a second-round 74 means a 36-hole status of four over.