English Rose makes it two from three, Tiger still toiling
You wait six years for a win, and then two come along in five weeks.
Justin Rose has laboured unimpressively at times on the PGA Tour, but the Englishman finally tasted victory at the beginning of June when winning the Memorial Tournament - and now he has doubled his tally of wins, taking the AT&T National at Aronimink yesterday.
Rose carded two birdies and an eagle during his final round, but he also accumulated four bogeys. At times the 29-year-old's win owed more to tenacity than flair, Rose playing to par for eight of the back nine, ultimately finishing on 10-under-par to win by a stroke over a pursuing Ryan Moore.
Perhaps just as notably, Rose was bouncing back here after a potentially psychologically damaging result at last week's Travellers tournament, where he had led by six strokes going into the final day only to see some disastrous putting send him plunging down the leaderboard. If there was a sense at times yesterday that Rose was grimly hanging on for victory, it's to his credit he managed to keep his head with the threat of the fast-closing Moore bearing down on him.
Rose's victory in Pennsylvania means that, remarkably, players from the UK have won four of the last five events on the PGA Tour; as well as Rose's win at the Memorial, Graeme McDowell won the US Open at Pebble Beach while Lee Westwood took the St Jude Classic a few weeks ago. With this win, Rose has guaranteed entry at next week's Open at St Andrews - in this kind of form might he be capable of winning the major?
Perhaps we shouldn't get carried away. In truth, the field at the AT&T National wasn't the strongest, Tiger Woods aside - and the world No. 1 was not exactly at the peak of his powers either. Woods has failed to look the full ticket since his post-scandal comeback, and this week he found a new way to underachieve, hitting the ball straight but finding his game blighted by some suspect putting.
Woods only just managed to make the cut, and the 34-year-old failed to break par on any of his four rounds as he finished four-over-par and tied for 46th place. Woods will presumably be hoping to work on his errant green-play at the JP McManus Pro-Am this week in County Limerick, which will serve as a tune-up for St Andrews.
Woods has won the Open at the old course twice before, in 2000 and 2005, and his only decent performances this year have come at majors; he finished fourth at both the Masters and the US Open. While the 14-time major winner is experiencing the mother of all wobbles right now, he could still be a wiser bet to go close than Rose, whatever the Englishman's recent triumphs.
Tags: