Justin Rose has been waiting a long time for a round like his 67 in the second round of US PGA Championship yesterday and it could not have come at a better time for the leader of last year's Order of Merit in Europe. Rose, 28, has had a few dark moments in the past months as his results have dipped dramatically from his successes of 2007, but his three-under par score yesterday was a reminder that he has remarkable natural talent and appears to be running into form at last.

It was done in the relatively calm conditions of the morning on the South Course at Oakland Hills, after which Rose was able to have lunch and then settle back to see how his rivals were faring over a course that was becoming more difficult as the wind rose and the greens became still firmer. Rose, Ben Curtis, the 2003 Open champion, and Charlie Wi shared the same score of level-par 140 after 36 holes and for most of another hot day this trio were one stroke behind J.B. Holmes, the American, who had gone round in 68.

When Rose was playing so well last year, it was his putting that was the foundation of his game. For a couple of months he was probably the best putter in the world. Put him on good greens, ones with a true roll, and he usually does well. He took only 25 putts yesterday, 16 on his first nine, which was actually the back-nine holes, and nine on the front nine.

“I guess the putter was the key to the round,” Rose said. “I think it was the round of the year for sure. Obviously when you're not playing great golf it is easy to get frustrated. Today I felt I made plenty of mistakes but I didn't really react to them and I got rewarded by hitting some great recovery shots.”

Nick Faldo was roaming the course, doing some research for his weekend stint in the TV commentary box and watching prospective members of his Europe Ryder Cup team, and although he watched Rose scuff a three-wood into a fairway bunker on the 18th, he saw enough to feel that Rose is approaching his best form at the right time of the season. Rose has taken the precaution of entering the Dutch Open in two weeks, should he not win enough money at the last of this year's major championships to make sure sure of his place in Faldo's team in Kentucky next month.

Mark Fulcher, Rose's caddie, pointed out that Rose had played better because he seemed more relaxed. “He took his medicine when he made mistakes,” Fulcher said. “The 18th was key. He hit a poor drive into a bunker, hit into another bunker and then after he got out was still some way from the green. Then he hit a seven-iron to seven feet and holed the putt.

“Do you know what he said to me as he came off the green? He said, ‘that was fun'. That's the sort of thing I like to hear. Justin never lets his head go down.”

Henrik Stenson, the Dane, is one stroke behind Rose. Ian Poulter is on 145, the same total as Padraig Harrington, the Open champion, but Nick Dougherty was at 17 over par after an 82 and Darren Clarke's 11-over par total was unlikely to be low enough for him to play in the last two rounds.

Martin Kaymer's rounds of 75 and 79 meant his departure from the tournament, which was good news for Rose, who is currently just over 27,750 points behind the German in the race for Ryder Cup qualification and will obviously pass him at the completion of this tournament on Sunday night.