Justin Rose

Justin Peter Rose (born 30 July 1980) is an English professional golfer. At age 17, Rose came to prominence when he finished in fourth place as an amateur at the 1998 Open Championship. He turned professional the next day but struggled during his first few years, making few cuts. In the early 2000s, however, Rose improved, winning his first European Tour title in 2002 and leading the tour's Order of Merit in 2007. In the ensuing years, Rose won a number of notable tournaments on the PGA Tour, culminating with a win at the 2013 U.S. Open. Since then Rose has continued with success, earning a gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, reaching #1 in the world rankings in 2018, and finishing runner-up at a number of major championships, including a playoff loss to Rory McIlroy at the 2025 Masters.

Early life

Rose was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, to English parents, Annie and Ken. The family moved to England when Rose was five, and he started to play golf at Tylney Park Golf Club. He then moved on to Southwood Golf Club, Hartley Wintney Golf Club, Royal Winchester Golf Club and finally North Hants Golf Club. All of these clubs were near his then home in Hook, Hampshire.

Rose broke 70 for the first time at the age of 11 and was a plus three handicap by 14.

Amateur career

Rose played in the Walker Cup in 1997 as a 17-year-old. Later in the year, Rose burst to worldwide prominence at the 1998 Open Championship held at Royal Birkdale Golf Club. He holed out for birdie from the rough from about 50 yards on the 18th hole to finish in a tie for fourth. He won the silver medal for the low amateur.

Professional career

European Tour

The day after his success at the 1998 Open Championship, Rose turned professional. Rose struggled badly in his early career. He missed the cut in his first 21 consecutive events, including the European Tour qualifying school in 1998. He earned his first European Tour card when he finished 4th at the qualifying school in 1999. The following season he failed to retain his card and had to revisit the qualifying school, where he finished 9th.

Despite his early career struggles, Rose's career soon began to take off and he became established on the European Tour. In 2001, he opened the season with consecutive second-place finishes in South Africa. He went on to finish the year in top-40 on the Order of Merit. He won his first professional event, the Dunhill Championship in South Africa, in 2002, and followed this up with three further victories in that year. They included another win in South Africa at the Nashua Masters, a win on the Japan Golf Tour at The Crowns Tournament, and then he won his second European Tour title at the Victor Chandler British Masters, edging out Ian Poulter in the final round.

In 2003, Rose reached number 33 in the Official World Golf Ranking. He earned enough money to claim his PGA Tour card as a non-member for 2004 after finishing with more money than the 125th ranked player on the money list. In 2004, he played mostly in America on the PGA Tour while also maintaining his membership on the European Tour. He did not have a great year and slipped out of the top 50 in the world rankings; however, he kept his tour card after earning in excess of a million dollars.

His ranking continued to fall in early 2005, and in March he announced that he was quitting the European Tour and concentrating on playing on the PGA Tour. This had no apparent effect on his poor form, and by the middle of the year, he had fallen out of the World's top 100. In August of that year, he made an about-face by announcing his intention to return to the European Tour. Later the same week he had his best result of the year, leading the Buick Championship in Connecticut after three rounds before slipping to a third-place finish. A couple of further good results followed late in the 2005 season, and he maintained his status on the PGA Tour after all.

In September 2006 at the Canadian Open, Rose led a PGA Tour tournament going into the final round for the first time. But he slipped up with a final round 74 which moved him down the field. He went on to finish 2nd at the Valero Texas Open and finished 47th on the money list with US$1.629 million in prize money. In November 2006 he won the Australian Masters, to claim his first title for four years. His renewed consistency, including a top 5 finish at the 2007 Masters, saw him surpass his previous best world ranking, by reaching number 26 on 8 April 2007.

Rose lost in a playoff at the 2007 BMW PGA Championship but moved into the top twenty of the World Rankings for the first time. By October he had reached a new career high of 12 and became the top-ranked British golfer. Rose won the European Tour Order of Merit title for 2007 in a thrilling climax to the season at the Volvo Masters, which he won in a playoff on 4 November. His new world ranking of number 7 made him the top-ranked European golfer for the first time, and he subsequently moved up to sixth in the rankings. Since the end of 2009, Canadian golf instructor Sean Foley coaches Rose.

PGA Tour

In 2010, Rose had a third place at the Honda Classic in Florida, and then he broke through with a victory at the Memorial Tournament in Ohio with a final round 66 to win by three strokes over Rickie Fowler. This was his first win on American soil. The next day, Rose had to try to qualify for the U.S. Open, along with runner-up Rickie Fowler. Neither qualified, which raised questions about the qualification process of the U.S. Open. In his first tournament start since the Memorial, at the Travelers Championship (Connecticut) two weeks later, Rose led by three shots entering the final round but fell away to a tie for ninth. His good form continued the following week at the AT&T National where he shot a final-round even par 70 to win the tournament.

In 2011, Rose continued with success. He entered the final round of the Transitions Championship (Florida) with a one-stroke lead. However, he shot a three-over-par 74, including four consecutive bogeys, in the middle of the round to finish five shots behind champion Gary Woodland. In September 2011, Rose played the BMW Championship at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club (Illinois), the third of the four FedEx Cup playoff events. A flawless round of 63 on the opening day helped Rose to build a four stroke advantage going into the final round. Even though there was a late wobble with a bogey at the par-5 15th hole, Rose recovered and won by two strokes from John Senden.

In 2012, Rose played World Golf Championship event at the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral Golf Resort & Spa. He entered the final round three strokes behind Bubba Watson. However, Rose played well in the final round and took a two-stroke lead entering the par-4 18th hole. He found the right rough with his tee shot and could not get up and down from the back of the green, making bogey. This left Watson requiring a birdie to tie Rose. Watson hit an iron shot from the right hand rough to within ten feet but could not make the birdie putt giving Rose the biggest win of his career. At the 2012 PGA Championship, Rose recorded his best ever performance in a major championship with a T-3. At the 2012 Ryder Cup, Rose played a major part in Team Europe's comeback against the United States. Rose holed putts of 10, 35, and 12 feet on the final three holes to defeat Phil Mickelson 1 up. On 12 October 2012, Rose won the 8-man Turkish Airlines World Golf Final defeating Lee Westwood by a single stroke in the final. He also beat Tiger Woods by a stroke in the semi-final after progressing from his group with a 100% record. On 25 March 2013, Rose finished second to Tiger Woods at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and rose to a career-high of third in the world rankings.

In June 2013, Rose played the U.S. Open. Rose entered the final round two strokes behind leader Phil Mickelson at one-over-par. In the final round, Rose birdied the 6th and the 7th holes to tie the lead. Rose three-putted the 11th for bogey to fall back to one-over-par for the tournament. Around the same time, Mickelson holed his second shot from the fairway at the par-4 10th for eagle to regain the lead. However, Rose responded with birdies at the 12th and 13th holes to move back into the solo lead. Rose could not get up and down from a bunker on the 14th hole, however, and a bogey on the 16th hole dropped him to level for the day. However, Mickelson recorded bogeys at the 13th and 15th holes to remain one shot behind Rose. At the par-4 18th hole, Rose hit a 4-iron approach to the back of green to ensure par. The shot was reminiscent of Hogan's own shot from about the same area, landing his approach on the green and two putting for the victory, as Hogan had in 1950.

He had the clubhouse lead. Mickelson, needing a birdie at the last to tie Rose, blocked his drive and could not reach the green in two. He hit his pitch shot near the pin but could not hole it. Rose won the tournament by two over Mickelson and Jason Day. He became the first Englishman to win the U.S. Open since Tony Jacklin in 1970.