Justin Rose endured a stumbling start on the PGA Tour for the second consecutive year, but he again found a good place to regain his footing, at the Masters.
Coming off a tie for second behind Jordan Spieth at Augusta National, the Englishman hopes to really kick his game into gear this week in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
“I’m really excited about the rest of the year now,” said Rose, who missed the cut in three of his first four events in the United States in 2015 and then tied for 37th in the Shell Houston Open ahead of the first major of the season.
“It’s a good momentum starter for me. I tried to really tell myself that this year for me is going to be about April to September, when the big tournaments come around, and that’s when I want to play well. …
“I was trying to keep telling myself it’s a long year. Very happy it turned around in a major championship. But the thing that was most important for me was the fact that I have not been in contention and I haven’t had a lot of experience this year or positive vibes on which to draw.
“I was really pleased at how comfortable I felt in that situation, last group in the Masters on Sunday. I think that’s when you learn a lot about yourself, and that makes me very hungry to get there again very soon.”
A year ago, Rose got a late start because of a right shoulder injury, missing his normal launch on the Middle East swing of the European Tour and not playing until the Northern Trust Open at Riviera in the middle of February.
Then he started to heat up with a tie for 14th in the Masters, kick-starting a season in which he had eight top-10 finishes, including his sixth PGA Tour victory in the Quicken Loans National.
The injury bug bit again early this year, when he sustained a right wrist injury while missing the cut in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, his first event of the year in the United States.
However, he said that had little to do with his sub-par form.
“Yeah, the wrist injury was really a non-starter,” said Rose, who won the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion for his only major title among 17 professional victories. “It was really the one week in San Diego that it was bothering me, and from that moment on, it hasn’t been an issue. People have been saying it’s because of the wrist that I haven’t been playing well. That’s really not the case.
“I had to iron out a few kinks. I wasn’t that happy with where my swing was at about a month ago. Chopping and changing putters a couple times through the Florida swing.
“I just didn’t really enjoy the Florida swing that much with the weather and the golf courses, and just the various setups, and this and that. So it didn’t really go well for me for the first month or so of the year.
“But when you have a little bit of a struggle, it forces you to make a decision to work a little bit harder, and that’s what I’ve done about the last month. Hopefully, we’ll begin to see the start of a payoff.”
It could come this week at TPC Louisiana, where he finished in the top 10 in two of the last three years, including a tie for eighth last season.
“I’ve had to learn to love the course; I struggled with it starting out,” said Rose, who missed the cut in two of his first three appearances on the layout in Avondale, La., in addition to tying for 43rd. “I feel like I’ve figured out how to putt the greens a little better. They’re very tricky greens to read, lot of bowls and saddles and crowns out there, a lot of double-breaking putts, basically. So I’ve had a better time reading them in the last few years.
“I’ve always thought that the first six holes aren’t that easy. Then you get some chances through to about 15, so the middle of the course I think (is where you have to make your move).”
That seems to be his theme for the week.
–Story courtesy of The Sports Xchange, TSX Golf Editor Tom LaMarre
