England’s Justin Rose admits he was happy to receive a wake-up call last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational as he prepares to tee it up at The Players Championship.

Rose made a cracking start to the 2019 campaign by winning the Farmers Insurance Open on his second appearance of the year.

However, he has since struggled and missed the cut at the Saudi International before then finishing in a share of 63rd at Bay Hill last week. The world number two suffered a miserable weekend last time out carding scores of 75 and 77 and he is now ready to bounce back in what many class as the fifth major.

“It was a tough weekend,” he said. “I thought I was in a good position really after two rounds, and I was very aware of how Bay Hill plays, that it can get tough on the weekend.

“A good score on either Saturday or Sunday and you can run through the field and obviously that was the case on Saturday more than Sunday.

“For me, everything was a little off. I didn’t read the greens well. I didn’t putt it badly but just didn’t read the greens well, didn’t see the ball going in, which is not a good start.

“I’ve got a few things to work on, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.” Rose is one of the favourites to win at odds of 21.00, while Dustin Johnson remains the favourite at 13.00.