Justin Rose vows to defend his title at AT&T National on PGA Tour
Formidable English golfer, Justin Rose will be returning to defend his title at the AT&T National at Aronimink this week, hoping to retain the cup at one of the most difficult Par-70 courses on the tour. Rose won the tournament with a one-shot lead over
the sturdy Ryan Moore to bag his second professional victory on the PGA Tour.
The Englishman has not won a title since his victory at Aronimink last year and recently missed the cut at the US Open at Congressional two weeks ago. Still, the 30-year-old remains confident of his bid to retain the title this week.
“I feel like I'm coming in here with really good form; just like last year, three missed cuts. It's pretty much the polar opposite to last year really. I started off the season playing really, really well. The last few weeks I've run into a bit of trouble,
haven't scored well. I haven't been playing that badly,” Rose was talking to the PGA Tour.
He closed his Masters bid on a strong note last month with a joint 11th and had an unfortunate final round at the Transitions Championship this year where he threw away a one-shot lead entering into the final round and stumbled with an over-par
score of 74. He dropped five shots in the middle of his round, making ample room for Gary Woodland to post a victory.
“I feel like I'm working on a few areas of my game right now. The game is not bad, but the results could sort of pop out at any point I feel.” Rose added.
The two-time PGA Tour winner also talked about his fondness for the Aronimink and the difficulty it poses to the players. Rose thinks that driving the ball is the key to playing on this course which has plenty of thick rough, something which has been missing
on the rest of the courses.
Rose emphasized that the need to be more precise with the short game and avoiding bogeys would be the key to this event for the season. This is the second and the last time AT&T National will be played at Aronimink, after which it will move to the Congressional
Country Club, the former host of the event.
Rose broke headlines in 1998 when he finished for a stunning joint fourth at the Open Championship after he pulled a glorious birdie at the 18th playing as an amateur. He turned professional right after his stellar finish at the Open but his career
experienced a downslide and he missed a staggering 21 cuts in his following ventures.
Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Rose later moved to England and has played on both sides of the Atlantic, being a tour member of both European and PGA Tours.
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