Rose targets more majors as Irish look to end season on a high
Justin Rose at the 2018 US Open
World number one Justin Rose believes he can follow in the footsteps of Pádraig Harrington and Phil Mickelson and become a multiple major winner late in his career.
The 2013 US Open champion finished his 2018 European Tour campaign with a playoff win over Haotong Li in the Turkish Airlines Open on Sunday but he's not resting on his laurels with major wins his primary goal now.
“You've seen players like Phil and Pádraig Harrington have had hot spells towards the end of their careers where they have amassed two or three really quickly," Rose said.
"I don't know if I'm a bit, you know, whatever in the head, but I'm really looking forward to the off-season to still work at a few things and still get better.
“I think that's the exciting part, at 38, I still feel like there is improvement to be achieved.”
What the future holds for four-time major winner Rory McIlroy (29) remains to be seen as he returns to action in this week's $7.5 million Nedbank Golf Challenge following his lacklustre share of 54th in the WGC HSBC Champions nine days ago.
He's now ranked sixth in the world behind Rose, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas and the “golfing scientist” Bryson DeChambeau, whose Shriners Hospitals for Children Open win in Las Vegas on Sunday was his third in five starts and his fourth since the Memorial Tournament in June
As McIlroy is almost €2 million behind Open champion Francesco Molinari in the Race to Dubai, he knows he must win in Sun City and again at next week's DP World Tour Championship to have even a mathematical chance of becoming European No 1 for the fourth time.
He also joins Shane Lowry, Paul Dunne and 2020 Ryder Cup captain in-waiting Pádraig Harrington at the testing Gary Player Country Club knowing that hitting fairways will be key.
Harrington plays on an invitation having narrowly failed to qualify on merit. But after a chat with European Tour CEO Keith Pelley in Turkey, he's aware that the captaincy will not be discussed and a decision made until after the season-ending event in Dubai.
Pelley also revealed that a decision on the chosen venue for the 2026 Ryder Cup, where Adare Manor starts as the hot favourite, will be made "very, very quickly" with an announcement likely within "three or four months."
As for Lowry, who is up to 41st in the Race to Dubai and 70th in the world, he knows he has to drive it better in Sun City than he did in finishing 14th in Turkey if he's to edge closer to his goal of making the top 50 in the world by next March.
“I am certainly going to have to sort out my driving over the next three days if I am going to do well around there,” said Offaly man, who is 41st in the Race to Dubai heading to a venue where he tied for 12th last year.
“I am still hitting fairways and finding a way to get it around. But I am hitting a few really bad shots I never hit.”
Lowry lost his full PGA Tour card this year but hopes to play several US events early next term.
"My PGA Tour category is not that bad," said Lowry who will bring 2018 to a close by teaming up with Dunne in the ISPS Handa Melbourne World Cup of Golf before beginning 2019 in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
"I think I can get into Tampa, Hilton Head, the Zurich Classic —providing Paddy picks me— and then I'd get into the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.
“Obviously, if I get into the top 50 in the world, all of a sudden I have a good schedule and I need to be over there [in the US]. I will just focus on the next three weeks and see what happens.”
As for Dunne, he admits that this week’s venue, famous for its swirling winds, is not one of his favourites even if he did close with a 66 on his debut last year to tie for 29th.
After a summer of struggles, he was buoyed by his performance in Turkey, where he felt he made progress with his game despite a disappointing Sunday.
“I feel it has gone a little better at the end of the week than at the start, which is a positive,” said Dunne, who will have two weeks holiday after the World Cup before finishing his year with the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek.
“I will work through next week and hopefully it can continue like that and head into Dubai, a course I really like,” added Dunne, who will begin 2019 in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Saudi Arabia.
The fine line between working through swing issues in competition versus the range is a challenge for all players, including Dunne.
While he sees playing with card in hand as more useful, he admitted it can be a two-edged swords.
“I suppose it depends what position you are in because if you are really struggling then no, because it drains you completely,” he said. “If you feel like you have something to go with then it is always better to play I think.”
