ARDMORE, Pa. — Fifteen years ago, it was too early for Justin Rose.
On Sunday, when Rose hoisted the silver U.S. Open trophy on the 18th green at Merion the time was just right.
In the 1998 British Open at Royal Birkdale, Rose was a 17-year-old English amateur improbably capturing the imagination of his nation as he holed out his approach shot on the 72nd hole to finish in a tie for fourth.
That was the second British Open I covered for The Post, and that moment produced one of the loudest, most hair-raising roars I ever have heard at a golf tournament.
The moment was so intoxicating for Rose it propelled him into turning pro the next day — a decision that was widely criticized for his being too young and too raw.
So as Rose missed his first 21 cuts as a professional, that remarkable British Open moment became a speck in his rearview mirror and the chorus of criticism from the naysayers grew louder.
"At times it feels like 25 years since Birkdale and other times it feels like it was just yesterday,'' Rose said. "I sort of announced myself on the golfing scene probably before I was ready to handle it. Golf can be a cruel game, and definitely I have had the ups and downs, but I think ultimately it's made me stronger and able to handle the situations like [Sunday], for example.
"The scar tissue on the golf course … it just takes time to heal. It was a pretty traumatic start to my pro career. I've never really talked about it because you don't want to admit to that being the case, but I think when you've got past something you can talk openly about it.''
Lost in Rose's U.S. Open victory were a couple of compelling subplots.
***Rose's coach is Sean Foley, the same man Tiger Woods has credited for rebuilding his swing. How ironic this victory elevates Rose as yet another top-level player standing in the way of Woods, who has been stuck on 14 majors for five years, winning his 15th major.
***For the second time in the last year, Rose foiled Phil Mickelson from completing a career-changing moment. He again broke the will of Mickelson, whom he had beaten in a pivotal, crucial Ryder Cup singles match last fall at Medinah. Rose's steady play Sunday held off Mickelson's attempt to win his first U.S. Open.
"I learned a lot about Phil at the Ryder Cup when we went down the stretch there together,'' Rose said. "On that occasion I was fortunate enough to make three of the best putts of my life to pip him, and he couldn't have been more gracious. So I feel for him. [Sunday] was a tough day for him, I'm sure, dealing with his birthday, dealing with the pressure of having finished second here five times. … It couldn't have been easy for him.''
It has not been easy on Rose, who lost his father, Ken, to leukemia in 2002, just three years after he turned pro. Ken Rose was Justin's biggest supporter — particularly during that time he spent in the wilderness of missed cuts.
"When I was missing 21 cuts in a row, I was just trying to not fade away, really,'' Rose said. "I didn't want to be known as a one-hit wonder, a flash in the pan. I believed in myself inherently. Deep down, I always knew that I had a talent to play the game and I simply thought that if I put talent and hard work together, surely it will work out in the end, in the long run.''
So it did.
"It was just a natural progression for him,'' fellow Englishman Lee Westwood said. "He's won big tournaments [the FedEx Cup], playoff events, World Golf Championships. The major was the next thing. This was expected, I think.''
Because this time, the timing was right.
0 comments:
Post a Comment