Justin Rose revealed on Sunday a piece of news that was certainly not public knowledge. He was tempted in the past by the millions of LIV Golf and turned down the offer. The Englishman did not bring up the topic himself; rather, he responded to a journalist’s question right at the end of his media appearance after fabulously winning the Farmers Insurance Open.
The question was as follows: There has been a lot of talk about LIV this week because of Brooks (Koepka) returning and Patrick (Reed). When the tournament ended here last year, you were ranked 55th in the world. How does everything you’ve done in the past year validate the decision you made?
In other words, the journalist assumes that Rose received an offer from LIV Golf and rejected it. The exact date is not specified, although everything indicates it must have been in early 2025. Justin confirms this with his response without offering much more context. “I feel that the goals I still have to achieve were only attainable by staying on the European Tour and the PGA TOUR because access to those goals wouldn’t be possible otherwise. I want to play with the best in the world. That’s what motivates me, what keeps me hungry, what drives me. It might have been easy to do other things, but none of that excited me or gave me access to what I wanted to achieve. I thought my ‘child self’ wouldn’t feel good making that decision and giving up those dreams. I’ve been close: sniffing around, knocking on the door of some major since those decisions were made. So yes, what’s happening in recent months validates the decision,” he explains.
Rose is now ranked 3rd in the world, a position he hadn’t held since June 2019, shortly after becoming World Number One. His return to the top, almost from the depths (he was ranked 84th in early 2023), has been primarily thanks to a question he asked himself while looking in the mirror and the addition of two key people to his team. This is what the Brit has confessed.
“After being Number One, I started playing quite poorly in 2020, 2021, maybe 2022… they all blend together in my memory. But I felt that at that point, I needed a change: ‘I don’t want to end like this. I don’t want to have been Number One and just fade away.’ So there was a ‘I’m not going to let that happen.’ A regrouping, so to speak. It was also important to rebuild a team. Mark Blackburn (also coach of Matt Fitzpatrick focused mainly on performance) has been a great addition since late ’22, early ’23. He has kept me focused, we have a great plan. It’s been wonderful. And also having Fooch back on the bag,” he explains. It was his way of rebelling against the passage of time and irrelevance to remain competitive.
Rose admits that he is not necessarily training more, but better, with clearer ideas. “I feel like I have the ability and the tools to fine-tune my game in the weeks that matter most to me,” he explains. In this regard, the 45-year-old veteran Englishman, who cares little about longevity records at the moment, is very clear about what he still wants to achieve in his career. “I know it might sound a bit distant, but I still believe I can fulfil my childhood dream. I always wanted to win all four Majors at least once. I know it’s difficult, I have three left, but last year I was very close in two of them. I firmly believe it’s possible. In any case, the Masters and the Open are the main goals,” he states.
Precisely, the return of Fooch to his bag (Mark Fulcher) has been a special boost. This Sunday, they experienced a very emotional moment on the 18th hole fairway. “I didn’t say it out loud all week, but I had it in my head. In 2019, when I won here for the first time, Fooch wasn’t on my bag because he had just had heart surgery. I’m not going to say he was between life and death, but he was in bad shape. I had Lordy on the bag, caddie for many years of Henrik Stenson (and Álvaro Quirós). I know that was tough for Fooch, so today on the 18th walking to the green, we remembered it, and it was very special,” he describes.
Rose has won the Farmers with the best score in the history of an event that has been held since the 1950s. The three keys to closing such a complete week have been: course management, patience, and the ability to absorb mistakes when they came. “I’ve had great mental maturity. That’s what makes me feel most proud,” he describes. Finally, he admits that in the last three holes, he played to make pars. “I knew the record was there, and I wanted to achieve it. On the 18th, I could have hit the 7-wood to the green, although I would have had to hit it very well to make the distance. I know it’s not very pretty to play for position when you have that distance, but my goal was to win with that -23.” Don’t doubt it, but that concentration and strategic calculation from start to finish has truly been the key to Rose’s historic week at Torrey Pines.
