'Forgotten' Rose lives up to expectations with TOUR win

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Chris Condon/PGA TOUR

Justin Rose's caddie, Mark Fulcher, said he thinks "that (Rose's) time has come."

DUBLIN, Ohio -- Twelve summers ago, he was golf's teen idol, the 17-year-old amateur from England who nearly won the British Open. Justin Rose was fresh-faced and full of hope and potential and promise back then. When he turned pro after his final round at Royal Birkdale, expectations were high.

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But despite a handful of international wins, despite claiming the European Tour's Order of Merit, despite rising to No. 6 in the Official World Golf Ranking, despite making the Ryder Cup team two years ago, Rose's resume since that glorious week a dozen years ago had a serious hole on it.

He lacked a win on the PGA TOUR.

Rose, who will turn 30 next month, tried to tell himself it didn't matter. He had won on the European Tour. He had won in Japan, South Africa, Australia. So his success hadn't come in America. So what? He was a global winner.

But -- and you knew this was coming -- his bloom began to fade. Meanwhile, other English golfers received more attention. Lee Westwood. Ian Poulter. Paul Casey. Luke Donald. When Rose arrived this week at Muirfield Village to play the Memorial Tournament presented by Morgan Stanley, each of those four players could be found inside the top 10 of the world rankings. And Rose? He was 66th.

And in his mind, he was an afterthought.

"I think I'm very much a forgotten man right now in English golf," Rose said.

Not anymore. Not after Sunday's final-round 6-under 66 on a treacherously windy day leap-frogged him past third-round leader Rickie Fowler and into the winner's circle by three shots. Not after Rose finally ended his TOUR drought in his 162nd career start. Not after he finally claimed a tournament he seemed destined to win, with even Jack Nicklaus himself telling Rose a couple of years ago that he would one day win the Memorial.

No, Justin, it's doubtful that English golf fans will ignore you any more.

"His time," said his caddie Mark Fulcher, "has come."

Despite whatever slights Rose perceived, or any criticisms that had come his way lately for not already tasting success on the PGA TOUR, he said he never let it bother him. Lately, he's just stayed focus on the task at hand, refusing to look at the big picture. He no longer concentrates on scores but on shots. He doesn't fret about leaderboards

Even with Fowler leading by three shots after the second and third rounds, Rose stayed within himself. Down by four shots heading into the final round, he called upon the memories of previous occasions when he led a tournament -- "I lead every year after the first round (of the Masters)," Rose joked -- and didn't win, and knew that no lead was safe. On Sunday, that served him well.

At what proved to be the swing hole, the difficult par-3 12th, Rose's tee shot landed within 16 feet and he two-putted for par. Playing in the next and last group, Fowler made a bad swing with his 5-iron and it resulted in double bogey. All the sudden, Rose led by two shots. Playing bogey-free golf, Rose never gave up the lead the rest of the way.

Only when he got to the final few holes did Rose glance at the leaderboard. He liked what he saw.

"18-hole leads, 36-hole leads, 54-hole leads mean zero," Rose said. "I knew that I was in the hunt all week, but I wasn't playing golf like I was in the hunt all week. I was just in the moment.

"And I thought it paid off for me today. In the past, I've certainly gotten ahead of of myself. ... It's taken me a little while, but I think today I felt more comfortable in that situation because I was more in the moment."

Lest you think that Rose backed into the win because Fowler ended up shooting a 1-over 73, well, please dismiss those thoughts. Rose went out and grabbed this one, fair and square, conquering the winds that had been missing here the first three days and helped to make Muirfield so vulnerable.

"I didn't know anybody was going to be able to shoot a low round today," Nicklaus said. "Justin shot a low round. If you look at what Rickie did, that was a great round of golf. Justin just played that much better."

In fact, as Fowler stood on the 18th fairway, waiting for Rose to putt out in front of him, he had to applaud his final-round foe. "He played awesome today," Fowler said, "because it didn't play easy."

And so the drought is over for Rose, although he still needs another win this year to -- at least in his mind -- secure a European Ryder Cup spot. And he still faces 36-hole sectional qualifying for the U.S. Open on Monday. He doesn't have a lot of time to celebrate.

But he'll find the time at some point. After all, he's always wanted to win this tournament due to Nicklaus' involvement. And he loves Muirfield Village, not only the course but also the whole vibe. As his wife Kate said while waiting for her husband to leave the scorer's tent, "Memorial is one of his favorite tournaments. It feels a bit more like England with all the trees."

Most of all, though, he'll find the time to celebrate because it's the biggest win of his career. All those other wins on all those other continents? All those wins he used to tell himself were equal to winning in America?

"I was trying not to put a huge barrier in front of me to say winning over here is so much different than winning over in Europe," Rose said. "Now with the monkey off my back, there is a difference, of course."

And perhaps golf fans who may have forgotten Rose will feel different, too.