St. Louis, Missouri ….

Justin Rose’s lucky number is 99.

He has the number 99 stamped on his golf balls while his twitter account features the number 99.

The current World No. 3 tees-up this week at Bellerive hoping his No. 99 TaylorMade golf ball will lead to glory in the 100th staging of the PGA Championship.

And ahead of teeing-up in what will be his 14th PGA Championship, Rose explained the significance of the number 99.

“My wife’s lucky number was always 9,” said Rose.

“She was born on the 9th of March. When we got married, I figured double the luck, 99. I always liked double numbers anyway. I thought it was a cool number to have on my golf ball, and it became part of my Twitter handle and all that stuff.

“So, Justin Rose 99 has just become a thing over the last 10, 12 years or so.”

Rose says he’s fully recovered from a back injury that forced him out on the eve of last week’s WGC – Bridgestone Invitational.

“It’s just one of those things. I just had a facet joint tighten up, left sort of SIJ just got a bit grumbly,” he said.

“I could have maybe persevered last week if it was the last event of the season or something like that, but just with what’s coming up this week, with the FedExCup, with the Ryder Cup on the back end, it just wasn’t the prudent decision to play through.

“Even this week, I haven’t actually played a practice round in terms of going out there with my golf clubs. I have walked each nine and got some good visuals.”

And with the PGA Championship the last Major of the year and the 2019 Masters eight months away once the players leave Bellerive, Rose was asked if there was a sense of urgency to win the year’s last Major.

“Yeah, it’s the last opportunity to win one and a good year becomes a phenomenal year with a Major championship,” he said.

“It’s what I strive for. It’s what I build my year around really is the Majors. So, absolutely, you’re very keenly aware that this is the last opportunity, for sure.

“I don’t think pressing any harder does you any good. I think — this is an interesting golf course. There’s a lot of talk about everybody attacking it, everybody going for it, everybody doing all that type of stuff, but you can’t force the ball in the hole.

“Also, I think you’ve just got to let the week develop. But if you find yourself in contention down the stretch, you’ll be fully aware of what this means.”