• Ryder Cup

Rose: Europe expect the unexpected

ESPN staff
September 25, 2012
Justin Rose has enjoyed a sterling season, second only to Rory McIlroy's achievements so far © Getty Images
Enlarge

The Ryder Cup gets underway at Medinah Country Club on September 28. ESPN will have extensive coverage of the event - including interactive text commentary, reports and reaction - for all three days.

Justin Rose has told his European team-mates to "expect the unexpected" and trust their instincts as they prepare to launch their defence of the Ryder Cup at Medinah on Friday.

Rose, who reached a career-high ranking of No. 5 in the world after the PGA Championship, is playing in his second Ryder Cup after being part of the 2008 team beaten at Valhalla, an experience he warmly remembers in spite of the result.

Now older, wiser, and arriving after a season second only to Rory McIlroy in terms of personal achievement, Rose is keen to make amends for events four years ago at the 39th Ryder Cup at Medinah.

"There's a couple of things I want to achieve in my career - one is to play on a home team at the Ryder Cup, the other is to win the Ryder Cup," Rose said. "We can take care of one of those this week."

Rose, who has been simplifying his approach to putting in recent weeks, has warm memories of Chicago, and played down fears that the American fans could overstep the boundaries of fair play in support of their team as they have in previous years.

"I've never been to a Bears game or a Cubs game but I have some friends who live in the city and you can be walking along and if the TV's on, everyone stops to see what the score is," Rose said. "They are very passionate sports fans here, one of the biggest and best cities in America. It's going to be a fun place to play."

Nevertheless, Rose admitted that the unique atmosphere of the Ryder Cup threw up its own challenges, such as Lee Westwood's response to a man dressed up as a ghost who jumped out at him at Valhalla.

"I vaguely remember that," Rose added. "I never witnessed it, but it was bizarre - not what you'd expect! You have to expect the unexpected this week, on all levels.

"Even if there's nothing sinister about it at all you have to expect noise, roars going up from other parts of the course that might influence your pre-shot routine. You've just got to try and be as resilient as you can out there - and if something crazy happens, do your best to laugh it off.

"Our job is fairly simple - it's just to play as good a [round of] golf as we can. That's what we try to do every week. We have our own set of tools and skills that we rely upon - and [we need to] just trust them.

"You don't want to be thinking about anything new this week to deal with that type of stuff - you've just got to hope that what you've learned over the years is good enough."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Close