Justin Rose is back in the winner’s circle for the first time in four years and the Englishman has put himself right back in the frame for another Ryder Cup appearance this September.
Rose missed the 2021 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits after losing his form and struggling with injuries and his equipment, but he now finds himself up to 35th in the world with a real prospect of making a surprise, and sensational, return to Team Europe.
He eased to his 11th PGA Tour victory at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Monday to become the tournament’s first ever European winner and has seen his world ranking rise from 78th last month to 35th now. It means he is the tenth-highest-ranked European in the world and he now also looks set to qualify for The Masters and all of the year’s Majors.
The 2013 US Open champion jumped 97 spots on the Ryder Cup Europe ‘World Points’ list and will be hoping to either earn one of the six spots on the team or gain a wildcard pick from captain Luke Donald.
“The way where I’ve been with my game I’ve had to be quite selfish and just focus on me and focus on my improvement and what I need to do to start playing better golf,” Rose said when asked about the Ryder Cup.
“I haven’t even entertained what the Ryder Cup looks like for me. Other than I want to be there. But I’ve also had to be – and I said it to Luke – Hero Cup and things like that, beginning part of the year I would love to have been involved in it. But I felt like what was really important to me was getting off to a good start on the PGA Tour so I wasn’t under pressure later in the season, so I could turn my attentions to the Ryder Cup and the European Tour as and when that becomes the important part of the phase of the season.
Rose has played for Team Europe on five occasions
(Image credit: Getty Images)
“So the plan’s gone pretty perfectly, to be honest with you. Three really good solid weeks out here and I built a platform now to be able to look at the rest of the year in a much more positive light and start earning points. Yeah, obviously love to play my way onto the team. But wanted to be a player that if I’m playing well, Luke has to consider and feel good about being part of this team.”
Rose, at the age of 42 with five Ryder Cup appearances to his name, could be one of Team Europe’s experienced heads in Rome with the likes of Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Paul Casey unlikely to play following their moves to LIV Golf.
“I think every great team needs a blend,” he…
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