On a day when the afternoon wind picked up tremendously and players were struggling and spraying balls all over the place, Justin Rose quietly and assuredly recorded a three-under 68 for the round at The Open Championship. It was consistency personified as Rose was as calm and collected as it got, especially at a time when the gust was extremely difficult to deal with.
There were numerous times when putting was the right way to go rather than chipping the ball from off the green. Given how strong the wind was, putting is what would get the ball closer to the hole than chipping. That is experience from growing up playing in links golf courses and the Royal Troon is a proper links golf course.
Justin Rose’s Remarkable Comeback at the 12th Tee
Making bogey on the infamous 12th tee box, everyone wondered whether that would affect Rose or not. But Justin Rose is a major champion and major champions bounce back pretty quickly. Standing on the 13th tee box, the Englishman ripped one down the middle, silencing all the noise about whether he would leak more bogeys now that he had made one. Now, no one will discuss whether Rose can record another round without a blemish on his card over the weekend
Rose capped his round off with a long-range putt on the 18th green. The stage was set, anticipation had crept into the fans and the Englishman delivered. Rather than playing it conservatively and making sure no damage was done to his beautifully crafted round, Rose went for it. The fist pump was evident like it was The Ryder Cup. “That was such a fun way to finish,” he said. “Obviously, I celebrated, and there was the realization I didn’t have to hit another shot, could really kind of let my guard down and enjoy the day because it was a really hardworking, good round of golf.”
Some noise as Justin Rose delights the crowd at the 18th 🌹😍 pic.twitter.com/Fa1YY4zvkA
— Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) July 19, 2024
The numbers behind Justin Rose’s Open Championship thus far
The underlying numbers support the eye test when it comes to Justin Rose’s performance thus far at The Open Championship. The Englishman leads the field in the least number of bogeys with just one to his name. This came at the par four 12th hole which, as aforementioned, was playing as the second-hardest hole today.
Rose is ranked third in two other categories – strokes gained, and the par 4s. The 2013 US Open champion gained 11.81 strokes so far and played the par 4s today at three-under. He was eighth in the field when it came to the par 5s this tournament as this seems to be the only chink in his armour thus far. Rose has played the par 5s reasonably well in this tournament, but he didn’t make a birdie on any of them on Thursday.
More on the strokes gained, Rose is ninth in the field when it comes to strokes gained off the tee at +3.12, and 12th in the field when it comes to SG approach shots at +3.78. Like the way he’s played his par 5s, his short game hasn’t been bad but they haven’t been sensational either barring the putt on 18th today. Rose is 12th in the field when it comes to SG putting at +3.15 and 16th in the field when it comes to SG around the green at +1.73.
Rose’s Weekend Challenge and The Pressure of Expectations
With that said, Rose knows he’s in contention going into the weekend. He knows links golf course very well and knows the whole tournament could change within a couple of holes as big numbers are always lurking. Ask Joaquin Niemann. An Englishman hasn’t won The Open Championship in 32 years and Rose was asked about this when he jokingly referred to the pressure the English men’s national football team suffers from the lack of success. “No,” he said. “I’ve got my own problems. We’ve got enough problems with football. I can’t bring golf into it.”
But either way, Justin Rose is well and truly in it to win The Open Championship.
