A look at the story so far of the highest ranked European golfer to November, Englishman Justin Rose, and the lessons to be learned from his sporting triumphs.
This week in Valderrama, Spain, Justin Rose clinched a three way play-off to claim victory at the Volvo Masters and, more importantly, his first PGA Tour Order of Merit title. Rose, who has struggled with consistency in the past, seems to have finally found a winning formula and is now hotly tipped for a future victory in the majors.
Rose burst onto the scene back in 1998 at The Open where as a 17-year-old amateur he holed the 18th from the fairway on the final round to finish tied for fourth. Turning professional shortly afterwards, he struggled initially, missing more than 20 cuts before going on to become an established regular on the European Tour. His first victory in a professional event came at The Dunhill Championships in South Africa (the country of his birth) in 2002.
But life in the top flight is not easy. Despite being ranked 33 in the Official World Golf Rankings in 2003, 2004 was not a good year and Rose slipped out of the top 50 at the start of a run of bad form. For the next few years he seemed to come tantalisingly close to winning tournaments only to slip behind at the crucial moment. In 2005 he lead the Buick Championship after three rounds only to finish in third. Similarly, at the Canadian Open in September 2006, he went into the final round leading only to score a final round of 74 which moved him down the leaderboard.
However, the last 12 months has seen victory at the Australian Masters, a top five finish in the Masters at Augusta and of course the latest thrilling victory at Valderrama on Sunday which took Rose to ranked seventh in the Official World Golf Rankings. So, where has that crucial winning edge come from over the last 12 months, and how does Justin handle pressure at the top?
Ian Collins, Five Live Golf correspondent, attributes much of the new-found success to the team Justin has put in place this year. He split with previous management company IMG seeking a “personal touch in the handling of his affairs,” and replaced David Leadbetter with new coach Nick Bradley in a unique and exclusive one-on-one deal. Rose also married long time girlfriend Kate this year, and seems to have proved the old adage that marriage is good for you. So, it seems a calmer, happier and more settled competitor has emerged and we are beginning to see the results.
Team Rose aside, outstanding results have accompanied a crucial growth in mental belief and cumulative self-confidence - Justin Rose has trained himself to think properly. Speaking to the BBC about his fifth place finish at the Masters in 2007, he says:
“That is where my self-belief really started building. Although I finished fifth I felt like I finished a lot closer than maybe fifth represents. I got off to a terrible start in the final round but believed I could mount a comeback and I actually did do that. That was a really big learning experience for me. I felt comfortable being on the leader board, I enjoyed chasing down the stretch and living the dream, something I’d always dreamed about doing. To enjoy that experience and to trust myself and believe myself, that was a big week for me.”
Seeing obstacles as opportunities for growth and the value of dreaming positively plays a huge part in winning competitions, as we have seen this year in the case of Lewis Hamilton. But Rose has also made brave and conscious changes to his game at the time when it was most needed. On the secret of getting into the world’s top ten he says:
“I guess there has been a subtle change in my technique but really the key has been mentally, just simplifying my whole process and stripping it down and getting rid of the stuff I don’t need. Therefore when I come to a tournament I am in a very simple frame of mind. Therefore it is easy to repeat each week.
When you have got something easy to repeat, that is easy to trust under pressure and therefore my self-belief has been growing and growing.”
The future seems more exciting than ever for the 27-year-old as he sets his sights on the next logical step, winning a competition in America before looking for that first major victory. And on world number one, Tiger Woods, while Rose admits he would like to be the one snapping at his heels if the opportunity arose, he remains very much in the present and focussed:
“You have got to play your own game, and play the golf course and ultimately that is the only thing you can control. You can‘t think about what the other guys are doing. That is another thing I have done very well this year.”
