- Clubbing Down
Rose breakthrough can inspire a glut of English major success
Will TideyJune 17, 2013
We knew Justin Rose had the golf smarts, composure and driving accuracy to challenge at Merion, but we also knew he was 15 years from his unveiling at the 1998 Open Championship and still not a major winner.
That kind of a wait breeds a suffocating doubt if you let it. Could he really win this one? Would he ever win one? Or was Rose's destiny just to be billed as part of English golf's under-achieving, majors-shy, golden generation?
Starting his round on Sunday, Rose was seeking to become the first English major winner since Nick Faldo at the 1996 Masters - a gap of 17 years and 68 championships, punctuated by countless near-misses and capitulations. For post-1966 English football at the World Cup, read post-1996 English golf at the majors.
Tiger has won 14 since Faldo last put on the green jacket, Northern Ireland four. Even Scotland have got in on the act. Yet somehow a nation blessed by the combined talents of Rose, Lee Westwood, Luke Donald, Ian Poulter and Paul Casey had gone empty-handed. Until now that is.
Rose stood tall in Philadelphia to triumph. He talked of the inspiration he'd taken from Adam Scott's breakthrough win at the Masters and fans of English golf will be hoping Rose can provide the same impetus for his fellow countrymen going forward.
 Luke Donald's challenge faded at Merion |
When Darren Clarke won the Open in 2011 he pointed to Padraig Harrington's three major wins as the catalyst for a golden era in Irish golf. "I believe he is the one who inspired Graeme McDowell first, then Rory McIlroy and then me to go on and do what we have done," Clarke said.
McIlroy was clearly inspired by G-Mac's US Open win in 2010 to win in 2011; South African Charl Schwartzel said the same of Louis Oosthuizen's Open win the year before he won the Masters. There's nothing like seeing a friend achieve something to realize it's possible to do it yourself - some of the fear is replaced by a hunger to emulate them.
Poulter, Westwood and Donald all took to Twitter to celebrate Rose's US Open in on Sunday night. All three should have at least one major of their own by now, but their frustrations will be refocused by what the 32-year-old Rose has achieved.
Not only is the English major wait over, but a group of extremely talented players will have new belief they too can make it happen on the biggest stage. Judging by recent trends and runs of nations at the majors, don't be surprised if we see another English winner before 2013 is out.
It could very well be Rose himself of course.
All hail Merion
Merion was a captivating venue for the 113th US Open. Some courses are just cheap-shot brutal for the sake of it, but Merion's test is so cleverly constructed that is delivers a layout that can be played in many different ways.
To have the winner at +1 tells you everything you need to know about the difficulty level. That the players came away having loved the course tells you we'll be back as soon as possible.
