Rose blooms again for second US win in four weeks

FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE
By Mark Reason
Justin Rose parred the final seven holes to win the US PGA Tour's AT and T National by a stroke from Ryan Moore at Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. It was the 29-year-old Englishman’s second victory in America in the space of four weeks and he is playing the best golf in the world right now.
Rose’s ball striking in his closing par round of 70 was good enough to close out a major as he hit 16 greens in regulation on a brutal golf course. Back in 2007 Rose finished in the top 12 in all four majors as he ascended to the number six spot in the world. Rose has a new coach in Sean Foley this year and is looking even more impressive.
The four-wood he hit to four feet on the ninth hole to set up an eagle on Sunday was the shot of the tournament, but Rose was also soothingly accurate off the tee.
It is just a shame he didn’t make last month’s US Open due to the outmoded qualifying rules because he would have had a genuine chance of victory. Rose said afterwards: “This was my US Open.”
Last week Rose blew a four-shot final round lead at the Travelers and blamed his putting after missing a tiny one early on. For most of the ATandT he was brilliant on the greens, but the comfort of a five-shot lead with nine to play was removed by three-putts on both the 10th and 11th holes.
Until then Rose had gone 274 holes without a three-putt, the longest streak on the US PGA Tour.
It made Rose slightly vulnerable to a charge and the move came from Moore. The American’s 65 was an outrageous mix of brilliant shots, hairy up-and-downs and a fair bit of luck. It meant that Rose had a precarious one-shot lead when he came to the 18th tee.
Despite having to back off his tee shot when a daft marshal called for quiet at the worst moment, Rose hammered his drive down the middle. It showed remarkable strength of mind after last week’s meltdown. The win guaranteed Rose’s place in the St Andrews Open where he failed to qualify in 2000 and 2005.
Rose won the St Andrews Links Trophy on the course as an amateur and he finished second at the 2007 Dunhill Links, so he knows his game is suited to the course. As always, the biggest variable with Rose’s game is his putting, a key to success round the Old Course.
Tiger Woods is in far more uncertain form as he joins Rose in Ireland on Monday for the J P McManus Invitational. Woods shot a final round 71 at the ATandT, failing to break par in any of his four rounds. It is the first non-major tournament since the Arnold Palmer Invitational in 1999 that Woods has played all four rounds without breaking par.
He was still remarkably optimistic about his chances at St Andrews, which he described as his favourite golf course “by far.” Woods said yesterday: “I’m excited. I was hitting driver as many times as I could because it felt so good. I just wanted to keep hitting it. That hasn’t been the case lately. Now I need to get my putter working a little bit better and get it rolling.”
Woods’ short game was the biggest factor in his two previous Open victories at St Andrews but it is uncertain how much preparation he will get in the coming week.
Woods may stay in Ireland to go fishing and play links golf, but there is a concern that he may have to fly back to the States in order to take advantage of one of the limited access periods he has to spend time with his children.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 280 (4x70)
270 Justin Rose 69 64 67 70 ($1,116,000 winner's prizemoney).
271 Ryan Moore 67 70 69 65 
272 Jeff Overton 68 68 69 67 
273 Charlie Wi 69 65 70 69 
274 J.B. Holmes 70 67 71 66 
275 Carl Pettersson  67 72 65 71 
276  Marc Leishman 71 70 67 68 
276 Nick Watney 66 71 70 69 
277 Vijay Singh  71 70 67 69 
277 Jason Day  66 68 72 71 
278 Daniel Chopra  69 70 72 67 
278 Vaughn Taylor 70 71 70 67
278 Sean O'Hair  71 68 70 69
278 Stuart Appleby 71 69 69 69 
278 Bo Van Pelt 69 68 70 71 
279 Garrett Willis  71 69 73 66
279 Joe Ogilvie 66 72 73 68
279 Ricky Barnes 70 72 69 68 
279 Aaron Baddeley  69 70 71 69 
279 Brandt Snedeker  71 70 69 69 
279 John Mallinger 67 70 72 70 
279 Brian Gay  67 70 71 71 
279 Jonathan Byrd  70 70 68 71 
279 John Merrick 72 70 66 71 
280 George McNeill  71 69 71 69 
280 Steve Elkington  73 70 68 69
280 Lucas Glover  71 68 71 70 
280 Ted Purdy 69 70 71 70 
280 Chris DiMarco  72 70 68 70 
280 Bryce Molder  69 70 69 72 
280 Steve Marino 68 71 69 72 
281 Bob Estes  68 73 71 69 
282 Brett Quigley  67 73 73 69 
Selected totals:
282 Jim Furyk 69 70 69 74 (jt 33rd0
284 Tiger Woods 73 70 70 71 (jt 46th).

US CHAMPIONS TOUR
MONTREAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Club de Golf Fontainebleau, Montreal
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 216 (3x72)]
199 Larry Mize 67 68 69.
200 John Cook 66 66 68.
202 Dan Forsman 71 66 65, Corey Pavin 68 67 67.
203 Bob Gilder 68 69 66, Jay Haas 66 70 67, Loren Roberts 70 66 67, Fred Couples 69 66 68, D A Weibring 72 63 68.
Selected total:
210 Mark James (England) 70 71 69 (jt 38th).